Gambling and Suicidality in Treatment-Seeking Pathological Gamblers

125 adult participants recruited from gambling treatment centres were included in an examination of gambling-related suicide ideation & attempts. In this sample, 48 percent had a history of gambling-related suicide ideation & an additional 12 percent reported at least one gambling-related suicide attempt. Level of suicidality was associated with greater gambling severity, gambling escape, dissociation, & attention seeking, impulsivity, & generalized dissociative experience but not with other psychological indices such as empathy or venturesomeness. The implications of the findings for the identification & treatment of gamblers at risk for suicide are discussed. (30 refs.) JA