Symptoms (fulfilled criteria) can be understood as external manifestations of the unobservable latent construct 'disorder').

While the information on the occurrence of the disorder remains important, a more detailed analysis of the underlying structure can offer insight into the syndrome. In general, a diagnosis is a form of reduction of information which might lead to oversimplified results ( MacCallum, Zhang, Preacher & Rucker, 2002). Although the new manual has been developed for North America, it is also widely used in studies elsewhere. It is basic to the development of diagnostic instruments and is often referred to as a criterion of external validity for other measures in various fields of research and practice ( Rounsaville et al., 2002). The DSM-5 is based on knowledge that has been gained in empirical studies and expresses the consensus of the scientific community on the nature of mental disorders ( Kupfer, First & Regier, 2002 Rounsaville et al., 2002). This paper reports the results of an Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis of the structure underlying the nine criteria and addresses the question of applicability of these criteria to different groups of gamblers. Some changes have been introduced in the DSM-5: illegal activities to support gambling is no longer a diagnostic criterion of a gambling disorder (GD), the severity of GD can be specified based on the number of endorsed criteria ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and a diagnosis is given if at least four out of nine criteria are met (5 out of 10 in the DSM-IV) ( American Psychiatric Association, 1994 Petry, 2010 Reilly & Smith, 2013). The fourth edition of the DSM (DSM-IV) ( American Psychiatric Association, 1994) has been widely used for the diagnosis of pathological gambling in practice and scientific research on different continents, including Europe ( Rounsaville et al., 2002 Sassen, Kraus & Bühringer, 2011).

Gambling disorder is classified as a non-substance-related disorder within “Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders” in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

What does the dsm say about gambling