A common assumption in many public frameworks is that the harms and behavioural risk factors associated with gambling disorder lie on a continuum. At one end is lower risk or recreational gambling, and at the other, problem or disordered gambling. Movements along this continuum are associated with gradual increases or decreases in the level of behaviour and associated harm. This perspective is often advanced in opposition to more clinical or categorical frameworks that view problem gambling as a distinct clinical category from the other groups. In this paper, we investigate these competing perspectives with reference to 15 years of Australian prevalence studies. We examine the relationship between PGSI severity classifications and the endorsement of the principal criteria of the DSM-5 (e.g. tolerance, chasing, impaired control). The results showed that while elements of behavioural dependence increase across the PGSI categories (low to moderate to problem), problem gamblers have disproportionately greater endorsement. The PGSI severity and behavioural dependence relationship corresponds more strongly to a J-curve than a linear or r-curve and therefore lends greater support of a more categorical conceptualisation of the disorder.

在许多公共框架中，一个普遍的假设是与赌博疾病相关的危害和行为风险因素是连续的。一方面是较低风险或娱乐性赌博，另一方面是问题或无序赌博。沿着这个连续体的运动与行为水平的逐渐增加或减少以及相关的危害有关。这种观点通常与更多的临床或分类框架相反，后者将问题赌博视为与其他群体不同的临床类别。在本文中，我们参考了15年的澳大利亚流行病学研究来调查这些相互竞争的观点。我们研究了PGSI严重性分类与DSM-5主要标准（例如耐受性，追逐性，控制力受损）之间的关系。结果表明，虽然行为依赖的要素在PGSI类别中有所增加（从低到中度到问题），但问题赌徒的支持却成比例地增加。PGSI严重性和行为依赖关系比线性或r曲线更强地对应于J曲线，因此为该疾病的更分类概念化提供了更大的支持。