Interoception and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Gambling Disorder
Kennedy, D; Goshko, C-B; Murch, S; et al.Limbrick-Oldfield, E; Dunn, B; Clark, L
Date: 21 January 2019
Journal
Psychophysiology
Publisher
Wiley for Society for Psychophysiological Research
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Gambling has long-standing links with excitement and physiological arousal, but prior research has not
considered i) gamblers’ ability to detect internal physiological signals, or ii) markers of parasympathetic
functioning. The present study measured interoception in individuals with gambling disorder, using selfreport measures and ...
Gambling has long-standing links with excitement and physiological arousal, but prior research has not
considered i) gamblers’ ability to detect internal physiological signals, or ii) markers of parasympathetic
functioning. The present study measured interoception in individuals with gambling disorder, using selfreport measures and a heart beat counting task administered at rest. Resting state Respiratory Sinus
Arrhythmia (RSA), an index of heart rate variability, was measured as a proxy for parasympathetic
control and emotional regulation capacity. In a case-control design, 50 individuals with gambling
disorder were compared against 35 controls without gambling problems. Participants completed two
self-report measures of bodily awareness and a behavioural test of heart beat counting. A resting state
electrocardiogram (five minutes) was used to calculate RSA. There were no significant differences on
the self-report or behavioral interoception probes. The group with gambling disorder displayed
significantly reduced RSA, which at face value is consistent with reduced parasympathetic control.
However, the group difference in RSA did not survive controlling for age and smoking status, as
established predictors of heart rate variability. Our findings do not support any changes in interoceptive
processing in people with gambling disorder, at least under resting conditions. Our observation that
group differences in RSA are partly explained by smoking behavior highlights the importance of
controlling for nicotine use in future research characterizing physiological functioning and emotional
regulation in disordered gambling.
Psychology - old structure
Collections of Former Colleges
Item views 0
Full item downloads 0