Drawing the line between normal and problematic trading: a qualitative study

Objective: For some individuals, problematic trading behaviors lead to relevant negative consequences. The need to identify the line between normal and pathological is plagued by epistemological issues that may overpatologize trading as well as blind clinicians to specificities of the clinical condition. This study aims to use a qualitative approach to partially overcome epistemological issues and to identify key features of problematic trading. Method: We developed the Experiences of Trading Interview (ETI) that was administered to a sample of 29 individuals engaging in cryptocurrencies trading. The content of the questions as well as the structure of the ETI were created to investigate both gambling-like and trading-specific problems. The ETI was structured in sections exploring 1) the story of trading activity, 2) problems emerging after significant losses (e.g., tilt, chasing), 3) problems emerging after significant gains and 4) trading-related harms. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed through thematic cluster analyses performed with the Tlab software. Results: Problematic trading is characterized by lack of control consequent to disruption in emotion regulation processes following significant loses or profits. Other problematic features were related to excessive pervasiveness of the activity and cognitive salience. Some features are similar to those described by gambling or addiction literature whereas others are more specific to trading. Conclusions: Models of gambling and behavioral addictions help identifying some aspects of problematic trading. However, this phenomenon has specific features that should be better investigated. Qualitative approach appears to be a powerful tool to reduce epistemological bias in the study of potential new behavioral addictions.