Journal of Gambling Studies Vol. 17, No. 1, 2001 5 1050-5350/01/0300-0005$19.50/0  2001 Human Sciences Press, Inc. Obsessive-Compulsive Features in Pathological Lottery and Scratch-Ticket Gamblers Randy O. Frost Beth M. Meagher Smith College John H. Riskind George Mason University The results of this study support the notion that pathological gamblers drawn from the community would score higher on all three scores from the YBOCS than light gam- blers. Consistent with hypotheses, pathological gamblers (lottery and scratch ticket) reported more obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance behavior than the light gam- blers, and also reported having more urges to engage in injurious behaviors to them- selves and others. These findings provide evidence that pathological gambling falls in a spectrum or family of disorders which have obsessive-compulsive disorder at its core. These findings support McElroy, Hudson, Philips, et al.’s (1993) suggestions of sim- ilarities between OCD and Impulse Control Disorders, and extend Blaszczynski (1999) findings of overlap between pathological gamblers and OCD in a treatment popula- tion. Heavy gamblers also reported significantly more hoarding symptoms and compul- sive buying than light gamblers. More research in this area may show further evidence of a spectrum of disorders with obsessive compulsive disorder at its core, and show further links between impulse control disorders (such as pathological gambling) and OCD. KEY WORDS: gambling; obsessive-compulsive disorder; hoarding; impulse control. Address correspondence to Professor Randy O. Frost, Department of Psychology, Smith Col- lege, Northampton, MA 01063; e-mail: rfrostscience.smith.edu.