Autism and gambling: a systematic review, focusing on neurocognition
Autism and gambling: a systematic review, focusing on neurocognition
Autism spectrum disorders (hereafter autism) are prevalent and often associated with elevated rates of substance use disorders. A subset of people who gamble develop gambling disorder, which is functionally impairing. Characterization of relationships between autism and gambling, particularly as relates to cognition, may have important implications. We conducted a systematic review of the literature. Nine out of 343 publications were found eligible for inclusion. Most studies examined decision-making using cognitive tasks, showing mixed results (less, equivalent or superior performance in autistic people compared to non-autistic people). The most consistent cognitive finding was relatively slower responses in autistic people on gambling tasks, compared to non-autistic people. One study reported a link between problem gambling and autism scores, in people who gamble at least occasionally. This systematic review highlights a profound lack of research on the potential neurocognitive overlap between autism and gambling. Future work should address the link between autism and behavioral addictions in adequately powered samples, using validated tools.
Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology, Autistic Disorder/complications, Behavior, Addictive/psychology, Cognition/physiology, Gambling/psychology, Humans
Chamberlain, Samuel R.
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Aslan, Betul
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Quinn, Anthony
22828980-92eb-4953-bab6-9fd7104ab278
Anilkumar, Amith
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Robinson, Janine
de2016b1-91d6-4b62-8f97-3c4bfc191a1c
Grant, Jon E.
4e8b5f04-b8b0-4b37-8891-d75bace6a2aa
Sinclair, Julia
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1 April 2023
Chamberlain, Samuel R.
8a0e09e6-f51f-4039-9287-88debe8d8b6f
Aslan, Betul
fa11c1a6-817e-4ae5-b60d-4289cc9b6f17
Quinn, Anthony
22828980-92eb-4953-bab6-9fd7104ab278
Anilkumar, Amith
907d0d18-459e-4e39-b6b3-5147cb21289a
Robinson, Janine
de2016b1-91d6-4b62-8f97-3c4bfc191a1c
Grant, Jon E.
4e8b5f04-b8b0-4b37-8891-d75bace6a2aa
Sinclair, Julia
be3e54d5-c6da-4950-b0ba-3cb8cdcab13c
Chamberlain, Samuel R., Aslan, Betul, Quinn, Anthony and Sinclair, Julia
,
et al.
(2023)
Autism and gambling: a systematic review, focusing on neurocognition.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 147 (4), [105071].
(doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105071).
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (hereafter autism) are prevalent and often associated with elevated rates of substance use disorders. A subset of people who gamble develop gambling disorder, which is functionally impairing. Characterization of relationships between autism and gambling, particularly as relates to cognition, may have important implications. We conducted a systematic review of the literature. Nine out of 343 publications were found eligible for inclusion. Most studies examined decision-making using cognitive tasks, showing mixed results (less, equivalent or superior performance in autistic people compared to non-autistic people). The most consistent cognitive finding was relatively slower responses in autistic people on gambling tasks, compared to non-autistic people. One study reported a link between problem gambling and autism scores, in people who gamble at least occasionally. This systematic review highlights a profound lack of research on the potential neurocognitive overlap between autism and gambling. Future work should address the link between autism and behavioral addictions in adequately powered samples, using validated tools.
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Accepted/In Press date: 29 January 2023
Published date: 1 April 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We would like to thank the students at the University of Southampton who kindly assisted with the literature search.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
Keywords:
Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology, Autistic Disorder/complications, Behavior, Addictive/psychology, Cognition/physiology, Gambling/psychology, Humans
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477941
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477941
ISSN: 0149-7634
PURE UUID: 34c12fa5-2cf6-4110-939f-358fbc4c57c3
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Date deposited: 16 Jun 2023 16:47
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:58
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Contributors
Author:
Samuel R. Chamberlain
Author:
Betul Aslan
Author:
Anthony Quinn
Author:
Amith Anilkumar
Author:
Janine Robinson
Author:
Jon E. Grant
Corporate Author: et al.
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