Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Gambling Studies https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-020-09983-w 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Gambling Disorder and Childhood Trauma: A Complex Association Natascha S. Horak 1,2  · Gillian Eagle 2  · Dan J. Stein 1,3  · Christine Lochner 1 Accepted: 22 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Gambling disorder (GD) is classifed as a behavioural addiction and has some phenotypic similarities with substance use disorders (SUDs). Childhood adversity and life stressors are associated with increased risk for SUDs in adulthood. However, there is limited research investigating the association between childhood trauma, stressors and behavioural addic- tions such as GD. In this case–control cross-sectional study, 31 adult patients with GD were compared to 31 matched healthy controls (HCs) in terms of exposure to early adver- sity using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF). In addition, past 12-month stressful life event exposure was assessed using the Life Event Stress Scale (LESS) and investigated as a possible moderator of the relationship between childhood trauma and GD by means of a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Logistic regression analyses were used to test if childhood trauma (CTQ-SF) and its subtypes were signifcant predictors of a diagnosis of GD. Severity of childhood trauma in general, and on all fve subtypes, was signifcantly higher in GD patients compared to HCs. Childhood trauma was a signifcant predictor of a diagnosis of GD, with physical neglect being the single trauma subtype to signifcantly increase odds of GD in adulthood. Stressful life events moderated the relation- ship between childhood trauma and GD, i.e. childhood trauma was signifcantly higher in GD patients compared to HCs when LESS was low. The fndings support a link between childhood trauma and GD, with current stress as a moderating variable, and may be useful for future individualized therapeutic strategies. Keywords Gambling disorder · Behavioural addictions · Childhood trauma · Life events · Stress * Christine Lochner CL2@sun.ac.za 1 SA MRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2 Department of Psychology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa