The Narrative of Persons with Gambling Problems and Substance Use: A Multidimensional Analysis of the Language of Addiction

Several studies showed that the analysis of the narrative dimension may represent a useful instrument to shed light on some critical psychological aspects; to this extent, it might also be fruitful to better understand the addiction disorder. The present study aimed to investigate the critical psychological-narrative aspects involved in gambling disorder. A semi-structured interview, which invited participants to narrate the various phases of addiction (addiction definition, onset, chronicization, relapse, desire, loss of control, control strategies, treatment, future behaviours with respect to the object of addiction), was administered to two groups of subjects in treatment: thirty with Gambling Disorder (GD) and eighteen with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). A qualiquantitative multidimensional analysis of this interview was performed. The dependent variables were psychological aspects (agency, passivity, locus of control, motivation) and narrative variables (global narrative coherence and self-projection into the future). The main findings showed that the GD presented a higher sense of agency, passivity, external locus of control and external motivation compared to SUD. Both groups showed a lower global narrative coherence score during the narration of desire (craving) compared to other phases. Moreover, both groups showed an absent self-projection into the future. The findings could be linked to possible impairment of the integration of the self, emotional dysregulation and low self-control typical in addiction. In conclusion, the present study highlighted the importance of the narrative dimension to detect some critical points in the addiction condition on which to potentially address the treatment.