Introduction to Behavioral Addictions
Jon E. Grant1, Marc N. Potenza2, Aviv Weinstein3, and David A. Gorelick4
1University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
3Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
4Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, Baltimore, MD
Abstract
Background—Several behaviors, besides psychoactive substance ingestion, produce short-term
reward that may engender persistent behavior despite knowledge of adverse consequences, i.e.,
diminished control over the behavior. These disorders have historically been conceptualized in
several ways. One view posits these disorders as lying along an impulsive-compulsive spectrum,
with some classified as impulse control disorders. An alternate, but not mutually exclusive,
conceptualization considers the disorders as non-substance or “behavioral” addictions.
Objectives—Inform the discussion on the relationship between psychoactive substance and
behavioral addictions. Methods: We review data illustrating similarities and differences between
impulse control disorders or behavioral addictions and substance addictions. This topic is
particularly relevant to the optimal classification of these disorders in the forthcoming fifth edition
of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Results—Growing evidence suggests that behavioral addictions resemble substance addictions in
many domains, including natural history, phenomenology, tolerance, comorbidity, overlapping
genetic contribution, neurobiological mechanisms, and response to treatment, supporting the
DSM-V Task Force proposed new category of Addiction and Related Disorders encompassing
both substance use disorders and non-substance addictions. Current data suggest that this
combined category may be appropriate for pathological gambling and a few other better studied
behavioral addictions, e.g., Internet addiction. There is currently insufficient data to justify any
classification of other proposed behavioral addictions.
Corresponding author: Dr. David A. Gorelick, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, Phone: 443-631-8004;
dgorelic@intra.nida.nih.gov.
Author Disclosures: All authors reported no conflict of interest regarding the content of this paper. Dr. Grant has received research
grants from NIMH, NIDA, National Center for Responsible Gaming and its affiliated Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders,
and Forest Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Grant receives yearly compensation from Springer Publishing for acting as Editor-in-Chief of the
Journal of Gambling Studies, has performed grant reviews for NIH and the Ontario Gambling Association, has received royalties from
Oxford University Press, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Norton Press, and McGraw Hill, has received honoraria from Indiana
University Medical School, University of South Florida, the Mayo Medical School, the California Society of Addiction Medicine, the
State of Arizona, the State of Massachusetts, the State of Oregon, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the Province of Alberta. Dr. Grant
has received compensation as a consultant for law offices on issues related to impulse control disorders. Dr. Potenza has received
financial support or compensation for the following: consultant for and an advisor to Boehringer Ingelheim; financial interests in
Somaxon; research support from the National Institutes of Health, Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Mohegan Sun Casino, National Center
for Responsible Gaming and its affiliated Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders, and Forest Laboratories; has participated in
surveys, mailings or telephone consultations related to drug addiction, impulse control disorders or other health topics; has consulted
for law offices on issues related to addictions or impulse control disorders; has provided clinical care in the Connecticut Department of
Mental Health and Addiction Services Problem Gambling Services Program; and has generated books or book chapters for publishers
of mental health texts. Dr. Weinstein has received research grants from the Israeli Anti-Drug Authority, the Israel National Institute
for Psychobiology, the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Health, and the Rashi Trust (Paris, France) and fees for lectures on
drug addiction from the Israeli Ministry of Education. Dr. Gorelick reports no outside funding or conflicts of interest.
NIH Public Access
Author Manuscript
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 September 1.
Published in final edited form as:
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2010 September ; 36(5): 233–241. doi:10.3109/00952990.2010.491884.
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Conclusions and Scientific Significance—Proper categorization of behavioral addictions or
impulse control disorders has substantial implications for the development of improved prevention
and treatment strategies.
Keywords
behavioral addiction; classification; diagnosis; impulse control disorder; substance use disorder;
compulsivity; drug abuse; impulisivity
Introduction
Several behaviors, besides psychoactive substance ingestion, produce short-term reward that
may engender persistent behavior despite knowledge of adverse consequences, i.e.,
diminished control over the behavior. Diminished control is a core defining concept of
psychoactive substance dependence or addiction. This similarity has given rise to the
concept of non-substance or “behavioral” addictions, i.e., syndromes analogous to substance
addiction, but with a behavioral focus other than ingestion of a psychoactive substance. The
concept of behavioral addictions has some scientific and clinical heuristic value, but remains
controversial. Issues around behavioral addictions are currently being debated in the context
of development of DSM-V (1,2)
Several behavioral addictions have been hypothesized as having similarities to substance
addictions. The current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Edition (DSM-IV-TR) has
designated formal diagnostic criteria for several of these disorders (e.g., pathological
gambling, kleptomania), classifying them as impulse control disorders, a separate category
from substance use disorders. Other behaviors (or impulse control disorders) have been
considered for inclusion in the forthcoming DSM – compulsive buying, pathologic skin
picking, sexual addiction (non-paraphilic hypersexuality), excessive tanning, computer/
video game playing, and internet addiction. Which behaviors to include as behavioral
addictions is still open for debate (3). Not all impulse control disorders, or disorders
characterized by impulsivity, should be considered behavioral addictions. Although many of
the impulse control disorders (e.g., pathological gambling, kleptomania) appear to share core
features with substance addictions, others, such as intermittent explosive disorder, may not.
In the hope of contributing to this debate, this paper reviews the evidence for similarities
between behavioral addictions and substance use disorders, their distinction from obsessive
compulsive disorder, and identifies areas of uncertainty warranting future research. It also
serves as an introduction to the succeeding papers in this issue, which review some putative
addictive behaviors in more detail.
Common Features of Behavioral Addictions: Relationship to Substance Use Disorders
The essential feature of behavioral addictions is the failure to resist an impulse, drive, or
temptation to perform an act that is harmful to the person or to others (4). Each behavioral
addiction is characterized by a recurrent pattern of behavior that has this essential feature
within a specific domain. The repetitive engagement in these behaviors ultimately interferes
with functioning in other domains. In this respect, the behavioral addictions resemble
substance use disorders. Individuals with substance addictions report difficulties in resisting
the urge to drink or use drugs.
Behavioral and substance addictions have many similarities in natural history,
phenomenology, and adverse consequences. Both have onset in adolescence and young
adulthood and higher rates in these age groups than among older adults (5). Both have
natural histories that may exhibit chronic, relapsing patterns, but with many people
recovering on their own without formal treatment (so-called “spontaneous” quitting) (6).
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Behavioral addictions are often preceded by feelings of “tension or arousal before
committing the act” and “pleasure, gratification or relief at the time of committing the act”
(4). The ego-syntonic nature of these behaviors is experientially similar to the experience of
substance use behaviors. This contrasts with the ego-dystonic nature of obsessivecompulsive
disorder. However, both behavioral and substance addictions may become less
ego-syntonic and more ego-dystonic over time, as the behavior (including substance taking)
itself becomes less pleasurable and more of a habit or compulsion (2,7), or becomes
motivated less by positive reinforcement and more by negative reinforcement (e.g., relief of
dysphoria or withdrawal).
Behavioral and substance addictions have phenomenological similarities. Many people with
behavioral addictions report an urge or craving state prior to initiating the behavior, as do
individuals with substance use disorders prior to substance use. Additionally, these
behaviors often decrease anxiety and result in a positive mood state or “high”, similar to
substance intoxication. Emotional dysregulation may contribute to cravings in both
behavioral and substance use disorders (8). Many people with pathological gambling,
kleptomania, compulsive sexual behavior, and compulsive buying report a decrease in these
positive mood effects with repeated behaviors or a need to increase the intensity of behavior
to achieve the same mood effect, analogous to tolerance (9–11). Many people with these
behavioral addictions also report a dysphoric state while abstaining from the behaviors,
analogous to withdrawal. However, unlike substance withdrawal, there are no reports of
physiological prominent or medically serious withdrawal states from behavioral addictions.
Pathological gambling, the most thoroughly studied of the behavioral addictions, provides
further insight into the relationship of behavioral addictions and substance use disorders (see
also Wareham and Potenza, this issue). Pathological gambling usually begins in childhood
or adolescence, with males tending to start at an earlier age (5,12), mirroring the pattern of
substance use disorders. Higher rates of pathological gambling are observed in men, with a
telescoping phenomenon observed in females (i.e., women have a later initial engagement in
the addictive behavior, but foreshortened time period from initial engagement to addiction)
(13). The telescoping phenomenon has been extensively documented in a variety of
substance use disorders (14).
As in substance use disorders, financial and marital problems are common in behavioral
addictions. Individuals with behavioral addictions, like those with substance addictions, will
frequently commit illegal acts, such as theft, embezzlement, and writing bad checks, to
either fund their addictive behavior or cope with the consequences of the behavior (15).
Personality
Individuals with behavioral addictions and those with substance use disorders both score
high on self-report measures of impulsivity and sensation-seeking and generally low on
measures of harm avoidance (16–20). However, individuals with some behavioral
addictions, such as internet addiction or pathological gambling, may also report high levels
of harm avoidance (21; see also Weinstein and Lejoyeux, this issue). Other research has
suggested that aspects of psychoticism, interpersonal conflict, and self-directedness may all
play a role in internet addiction (see Weinstein and Lejoyeux, this issue). In contrast,
individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder generally score high on measures of harm
avoidance and low on impulsivity (17,21). Individuals with behavioral addictions also score
high on measures of compulsivity, but these may be limited to impaired control over mental
activities and worries about losing control over motor behaviors (22). Impaired inhibition of
motor responses (impulsivity) has been found in individuals with obsessive compulsive
disorder and pathologic skin picking (a behavioral addiction with arguably closer
phenomenological links to obsessive compulsive disorder), whereas cognitive inflexibility
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(thought to contribute to compulsivity) was limited to obsessive compulsivity disorder
(23,24).
Comorbidity
Although most nationally representative studies have not included assessment of behavioral
addictions, existing epidemiological data support a relationship between pathological
gambling and substance use disorders, with high rates of co-occurrence in each direction
(25,26). The St. Louis Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study found high rates of cooccurrence
for substance use disorders (including nicotine dependence) and pathological
gambling, with the highest odds ratios generally observed between gambling, alcohol use
disorders, and antisocial personality disorder (25). A Canadian epidemiological survey
estimated that the relative risk for an alcohol use disorder increased 3.8-fold when
disordered gambling was present (27). Among individuals with substance dependence, the
risk of moderate to high severity gambling was 2.9 times higher (28). Odds ratios ranging
from 3.3 to 23.1 have been reported between pathological gambling and alcohol use
disorders in U.S. population-based studies (25; 29). Internet addiction was associated with
harmful alcohol use (odds ratio of 1.84) in a study of 2,453 college students, after
controlling for gender, age and depression (30).
Clinical samples of other behavioral addictions suggest that co-occurrence with substance
use disorders is common (Table 1). These findings suggest that behavioral addictions may
share a common pathophysiology with substance use disorders.
However, data about substance use comorbidity must be interpreted cautiously because any
causal associations may manifest on a behavioral level (for example, alcohol use disinhibits
a range of inappropriate behaviors, including those identified as addictive) or on a
syndromal level (for example, a behavioral addiction starts after alcoholism treatment,
possibly as a substitute for drinking). Problem gamblers with frequent alcohol use have
greater gambling severity and more psychosocial problems resulting from gambling than
those without alcohol use histories (31), and adolescents who are moderate to high
frequency drinkers are more likely to gamble frequently than those who are not (32),
suggesting a behavioral interaction between alcohol and gambling. In contrast, a similar
finding regarding nicotine use suggests a syndromal interaction, as does the fact that adults
with pathological gambling who are current or prior smokers had significantly stronger
urges to gamble (33). Problem gamblers who use tobacco daily are more likely to have
alcohol and drug use problems (34).
Other psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive
compulsive disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are also commonly
reported in association with behavioral addictions (35,36; see also Weinstein and Lejoyeux,
this issue). However, many of these comorbidity studies were based on clinical samples. The
extent to which these findings generalize to community samples remains to be determined.
Neurocognition
Behavioral addictions and substance use disorders may have common cognitive features.
Both pathological gamblers and individuals with substance use disorders typically discount
rewards rapidly (37) and perform disadvantageously on decision-making tasks (38) such as
the Iowa Gambling Task, a paradigm that assesses risk-reward decision making (39). In
contrast, a study of individuals with internet addiction demonstrated no such deficits in
decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task (40). A study using a comprehensive
neurocognitive battery in 49 pathological gamblers, 48 abstinent alcohol-dependent subjects,
and 49 controls found that gamblers and alcoholics both showed diminished performance on
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tests of inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and planning tasks, but had no differences on tests of
executive functioning (41).
Common Neurobiological Processes
A growing body of literature implicates multiple neurotransmitter systems (e.g.,
serotonergic, dopaminergic, noradrenergic, opioidergic) in the pathophysiology of
behavioral addictions and substance use disorders (42). In particular, serotonin (5-HT),
which is involved with inhibition of behavior,, and dopamine, involved with learning,
motivation, and the salience of stimuli, including rewards,, may contribute significantly to
both sets of disorders (42,43).
Evidence for serotonergic involvement in behavioral addictions and substance use disorders
comes in part from studies of platelet monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) activity, which
correlates with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA, a
metabolite of 5-HT) and is considered a peripheral marker of 5-HT function. Low CSF 5HIAA
levels correlate with high levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking and have been
found in pathological gambling and substance use disorders (44). Pharmacologic challenge
studies that measure hormonal response after administration of serotonergic drugs also
provide evidence for serotonergic dysfunction in both behavioral addictions and substance
use disorders (45).
The repetitive use of substances or engagement in a behavioral addiction following an urge
may reflect a unitary process. Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that an underlying
biological mechanism for urge-driven disorders may involve the processing of incoming
reward input by the ventral tegmental area/nucleus accumbens/orbital frontal cortex circuit
(46,47). The ventral tegmental area contains neurons that release dopamine to the nucleus
accumbens and orbital frontal cortex. Alterations in dopaminergic pathways have been
proposed as underlying the seeking of rewards (gambling, drugs) that trigger the release of
dopamine and produce feelings of pleasure (48).
Limited evidence from neuroimaging studies supports a shared neurocircuitry of behavioral
addictions and substance use disorders (7). Diminished activity of the ventral medial
prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been associated with impulsive decision making in riskreward
assessments and with decreased response to gambling cues in pathological gamblers
(49). Similarly abnormal vmPFC functioning has been found in people with substance use
disorders (50). Game cue-associated brain activation in Internet gaming addicts occurs in the
same brain regions (orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, nucleus
accumbens) as with drug cue-associated brain activation in drug addicts (51; see also
Weinstein and Lejoyeux, this issue).
Brain imaging research suggests that the dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway from the ventral
tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens may be involved in both substance use disorders
and pathological gambling. Subjects with pathological gambling demonstrated less ventral
striatal neuronal activity with fMRI while performing simulated gambling than did control
subjects (52), similar to observations in alcohol-dependent subjects when processing
monetary rewards (53). Diminished ventral striatal activation has also been implicated in the
cravings associated with substance and behavioral addictions (41). Participation in a
gambling task appears to elicit greater dopamine release in the ventral striatum in
individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and pathological gambling than in individuals
with PD alone (54), a response similar to that elicited by drug or drug-associated cues in
drug addicts (55).
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Dopamine involvement in behavioral addictions is also suggested by studies of medicated
PD patients (56,57). Two studies of patients with PD found that more than 6% experienced a
new onset behavioral addiction or impulse control disorder (e.g., pathological gambling,
sexual addiction), with substantially higher rates among those taking dopamine agonist
medication (58,59). A higher levo-dopa dose equivalence was associated with greater
likelihood of having a behavioral addiction (59). Contrary to what might be expected from
dopamine involvement, antagonists at dopamine D2/D3 receptors enhance gambling-related
motivations and behaviors in non-PD individuals with pathological gambling (60) and have
no efficacy in the treatment of pathological gambling (61,62). Further research is warranted
to clarify the precise role of dopamine in pathological gambling and other behavioral
addictions.
Family History and Genetics
Relatively few family history/genetics studies of behavioral addiction have been designed
with appropriate control groups (7). Small family studies of probands with pathological
gambling (63), kleptomania (64), or compulsive buying (65) each found that first-degree
relatives of the probands had significantly higher lifetime rates of alcohol and other
substance use disorders, and of depression and other psychiatric disorders, than did control
subjects. These controlled family studies support the view that behavioral addictions may
have a genetic relationship to substance use disorders.
The genetic versus environmental contributions to specific behaviors and disorders can be
estimated by comparing their concordance in identical (monozygotic) and fraternal
(dizygotic) twin pairs. In a study of male twins using the Vietnam Era Twin Registry, 12%
to 20% of the genetic variation in risk for pathological gambling and 3% to 8% of the
nonshared environmental variation in risk for pathological gambling was accounted for by
risk for alcohol use disorders (66). Two-thirds (64%) of the co-occurrence between
pathological gambling and alcohol use disorders was attributable to genes that influence
both disorders, suggesting overlap in the genetically transmitted underpinnings of both
conditions. These findings are similar to those suggesting common genetic contributions to a
range of substance use disorders (67).
There are very few molecular genetic studies of behavioral addictions. The D2A1 allele of
the D2 dopamine receptor gene (DRD2) increases in frequency from individuals with nonproblematic
gambling to pathological gambling and co-occurring pathological gambling and
substance use disorders (68). Several DRD2 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
have been associated with personality measures of impulsivity and experimental measures of
behavioral inhibition in healthy volunteers (69), but these have not been evaluated in people
with behavioral addictions. Excessive internet users had higher frequencies of the long-arm
allele (SS) of the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) than healthy controls, and this was
associated with greater harm avoidance (70; see also Weinstein and Lejoyeux, this issue).
Responsiveness to Treatment
Behavioral addictions and substance use disorders often respond positively to the same
treatments, both psychosocial and pharmacological. The 12-step self-help approaches,
motivational enhancement, and cognitive behavioral therapies commonly used to treat
substance use disorders have been successfully used to treat pathological gambling,
compulsive sexual behavior, kleptomania, pathologic skin picking, and compulsive buying
(71–74). Psychosocial interventions for both behavioral addictions and substance use
disorders often rely on a relapse prevention model that encourages abstinence by identifying
patterns of abuse, avoiding or coping with high risk situations, and making lifestyle changes
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that reinforce healthier behaviors. In contrast, successful psychosocial treatments for
obsessive-compulsive disorder emphasize exposure and response prevention strategies (2).
There are no medications currently approved for the treatment of behavioral addictions, but
some medications that have shown promise in treating substance use disorders have also
shown promise in treating behavioral addictions (75). Naltrexone, a mu-opioid receptor
antagonist approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
alcoholism and opioid dependence, has shown efficacy in controlled clinical trials for the
treatment of pathological gambling and kleptomania (76–79), and promise in uncontrolled
studies of compulsive buying (80), compulsive sexual behavior (81), internet addiction (82),
and pathologic skin picking (83). These findings suggest that mu-opioid receptors play a
similar role in behavioral addictions as they do in substance use disorders, possibly through
modulation of the dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway. In contrast, the short-acting muopioid
receptor antagonist naloxone exacerbates symptoms in obsessive-compulsive
disorder (84).
Medications that alter glutamatergic activity have also been used to treat both behavioral
addictions and substance dependence. Topiramate, an anti-convulsant which blocks the
AMPA subtype of glutamate receptor (among other actions), has shown promise in openlabel
studies of pathological gambling, compulsive buying, and compulsive skin picking
(85), as well as efficacy in reducing alcohol (86), cigarette (87), and cocaine (88) use. Nacetyl
cysteine, an amino acid that restores extracellular glutamate concentration in the
nucleus accumbens, reduced gambling urges and behavior in one study of pathological
gamblers (89), and reduces cocaine craving (90) and cocaine use (91) in cocaine addicts.
These studies suggest that glutamatergic modulation of dopaminergic tone in the nucleus
accumbens may be a mechanism common to behavioral addiction and substance use
disorders (92).
Diagnostic Issues
Only one behavioral addiction, pathological gambling, is a recognized diagnosis in DSM-IV
and ICD-10. Its diagnostic criteria are conceptually similar to those for substance abuse/
dependence, i.e., preoccupation with the behavior, diminished ability to control the behavior,
tolerance, withdrawal, and adverse psychosocial consequences. The DSM-V Task Force has
suggested moving pathological gambling from its current classification as an impulse
control disorder to a new classification tentatively termed “Addiction and Related
Disorders,” which would include both substance use disorders and “non-substance
addictions” (www.dsm5.org, accessed Feb. 10, 2010). The only substantive proposed
change in diagnostic criteria is dropping of the criterion regarding commission of illegal acts
to finance gambling, which was found to have low prevalence and little effect on the
diagnosis.
Several other behavioral addictions have proposed diagnostic criteria, including compulsive
buying (93), Internet addiction (94), video/computer game addiction (95), sexual addiction
(96), and excessive tanning (see Kouroush et al., this issue). These are usually based on the
existing DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse or dependence, e.g., excessive time spent in
the behavior, repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut down or stop the behavior, diminished
control over the behavior, tolerance, withdrawal, and adverse psychosocial consequences.
The DSM-V Substance-Related Disorders work group is considering several of these nonsubstance
addictions for inclusion in DSM-V, specifically mentioning Internet addiction
(www.dsm5.org; accessed Feb. 10, 2010). However, for many of the disorders, there are
little or no validating data for these diagnostic criteria; they are currently most useful as
survey instruments to estimate the prevalence of the problem.
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One diagnostic question raised in the literature is where do behavioral addictions (and
substance addictions) fall on an impulsivity-compulsivity dimension (97), i.e., are they more
like impulse control disorders or obsessive compulsive disorders? Some have argued that
this unitary dimension approach is overly simplistic, and that impulsivity and compulsivity
represent orthogonal dimensions, rather than opposite poles of a single dimension (98).
Consistent with the latter argument are findings such as substantial variation in degree of
impulsivity among people with a behavioral addiction, variation that may be associated with
response to pharmacological treatment (48, 99).
In DSM-IV, substance addictions (substance use disorders) are an independent category,
while pathological gambling is considered an impulse control disorder, similar to, for
example, pyromania and kleptomania. ICD-10 classifies pathological gambling as a “habit
and impulse” disorder, but recognizes that “the behavior is not compulsive in the technical
sense,” even though it is sometimes called “compulsive gambling.”
A related issue is the association, or clustering, if any, among different behavioral
addictions. A cluster analysis of demographic and clinical variables in 210 patients with
primary obsessive compulsive disorder identified two separate clusters of patients with
behavioral addictions (100): patients with pathological gambling or sexual addiction
(“hypersexuality”) had earlier age of onset and were more likely male, as compared to
patients with compulsive shopping. Further research is needed to confirm and extend this
finding. One research approach that might substantially contribute to the field would be a
comprehensive evaluation of a large, heterogeneous, well characterized group of individuals
with various behavioral and substance addictions in terms of discrete components of
impulsivity and compulsivity in both psychological (cognitive) and behavioral (motor)
domains, e.g., sensitivity to reward delay (temporal discounting of reward), risk-reward
decision-making, conceptual rigidity, premature anticipatory responding, perseverative
responding, response inhibition, and reversal learning.
Summary and Conclusions
Growing evidence indicates that behavioral addictions resemble substance addictions in
many domains, including natural history (chronic, relapsing course with higher incidence
and prevalence in adolescents and young adults), phenomenology (subjective craving,
intoxication [“high”], and withdrawal), tolerance, comorbidity, overlapping genetic
contribution, neurobiological mechanisms (with roles for brain glutamatergic, opioidergic,
serotonergic and dopamine mesolimbic systems), and response to treatment. However,
existing data are most extensive for pathological gambling (see Wareham and Potenza, this
issue), with only limited data for compulsive buying (see Lejoyeaux and Weinstein, this
issue), internet addiction (see Weinstein and Lejoyeaux, this issue), and video/computer
game addiction (see Weinstein, this issue), and almost no data for other behavioral
addictions such as sexual addiction (see Garcia and Thibaut, this issue), love addiction (see
Reynaud, this issue), pathologic skin picking (see Odlaug and Grant, this issue), or excessive
tanning (see Kouroush et al., this issue). There is sufficient evidence to warrant considering
pathological gambling as a non-substance or behavioral addiction; the DSM-V Task Force
has proposed moving its classification in DSM-V from an impulse control disorder to an
addiction and related disorders (a new category encompassing both substance-related and
non-substance addictions).. In the current state of knowledge, especially in the absence of
validated diagnostic criteria and prospective, longitudinal studies, it is still premature to
consider other behavioral addictions as full-fledged independent disorders, much less
classify them all as similar to substance addictions, rather than as impulse control disorders.
Substantial future research, including both human and animal studies (101), is needed to
bring our knowledge of behavioral addictions to the level of that for substance addictions,
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especially in the domains of genetics, neurobiology (including brain imaging), and
treatment.
Acknowledgments
Supported by the Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse;
NIH (NIDA) grants R01 DA019139 (MNP) and RC1 DA028279 (JEG); and the Minnesota and Yale Centers of
Excellence in Gambling Research, which are supported by the National Center for Responsible Gaming and its
Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders. Dr. Weinstein is supported by the Israel National Institute for
Psychobiology. The contents of the manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the official views of the National Center for Responsible Gaming or the Institute for Research on
Gambling Disorders or any of the other funding agencies.
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Grant et al. Page 15
Table 1
Lifetime Estimates of Substance use Disorders in Behavioral Addictions
Behavioral Addictions Lifetime Estimates of Substance Use Disorder
Pathological Gambling 35% − 63%
Kleptomania 23% − 50%
Pathologic Skin Picking 38%
Compulsive Sexual Behavior 64%
Internet Addiction 38%
Compulsive Buying 21% − 46%
Source: Grant JE. Impulse Control Disorders: A Clinician’s Guide to Understanding and Treating Behavioral Addictions New York, NY: Norton
Press,2008.
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 September 1.
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