Alexithymia, Dissociation, and Family Functioning in a Sample of Online Gamblers: A Moderated Mediation Study

The diffusion of the internet and technological progress have made gambling on online platforms possible, also making it more anonymous, convenient, and available, increasing the risk of pathological outcomes for vulnerable individuals. Given this context, the present study explores the role of some protective and risk factors for problematic gambling in online gamblers by focusing on the interaction between alexithymia, dissociation, and family functioning. A sample of 193 online gamblers (Mage = 28.8 years, SD = 10.59; 17% females, 83% males) completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen, Twenty-Items Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Dissociative Experience Scale-II, and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-IV through an online survey. MANOVA, ANOVA and moderated mediation analyses were carried out to analyse the data. Significant differences in cohesive family functioning, alexithymia and dissociation have been found between online gamblers with problematic, at-risk or absent levels of gambling disease. Furthermore, the results showed a significant and positive association between alexithymia and problematic online gambling, partially mediated by dissociation, with the moderation of cohesive family functioning. Such data may have relevant clinical implications, highlighting the interaction of some core personal and environmental variables that may be involved in the etiology of online pathological gambling and could be kept in mind to tailor preventive interventions.

Discrete Roles for Impulsivity and Compulsivity in Gambling Disorder

Background and Objective: Complex associations between gambling disorder (GD) and impulsivity have been identified. However, little is known regarding how compulsivity associates with different impulsivity domains in GD. In this study, we examined associations between self-reported and behavioral measures of impulsivity–assessed through the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Experiential Discounting Task (EDT), respectively- and compulsivity-measured using the Padua Inventory and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), respectively-, in an adult sample with GD (N = 132, 94 men and 38 women, ages ranging from 18 to 69 years). GD severity was assessed using the South Oaks Gambling Screen.Methods: Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine relationships between impulsivity and compulsivity measures, age, and GD severity.Results: BIS-11 non-planning and BIS-11 total scores positively correlated with GD severity. The standardized coefficients for the SEM showed direct positive contributions of BIS-11 non-planning, Padua and EDT scores to GD severity. Only participants' ages directly contributed to WCST perseverative errors, and no direct or indirect effects were found with respect to GD severity.Conclusion: The findings suggest that specific aspects of impulsivity and compulsivity contribute to GD severity. Interventions specifically targeting domains that are most relevant to GD severity may improve treatment outcomes.

Positive Illusions: The Role of Cognitive Distortions Related to Gambling and Temporal Perspective in Chasing Behavior

Chasing, or continuing to gamble to recoup previous losses, is a behavioral marker and a diagnostic criterion for gambling disorder. Even though chasing has been recognized to play a central role in gambling disorder, research on chasing is still relatively scarce. This study first empirically investigated the interplay between cognitive distortions related to gambling, temporal perspective, and chasing behavior in a sample of habitual gamblers. Two hundred and fifty-five adults took part in the study. Participants completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS), the 14-item Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFC-14), and performed a computerized task assessing chasing behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (Control, Loss, and Win). Hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that the decision to chase depended on scores on the CFC-14 Immediate scale and the GRCS dimensions Gambling Expectancies and Interpretative Bias. Hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that, chasing frequency was affected by Loss condition, distortions related to gambling expectancies and predictive control, as well as by myopia for the future. Interestingly, the results of path analysis clearly indicated that some cognitions related to gambling predict chasing frequency not only directly, but also indirectly via shortened time horizon. Notably, gambling severity did not predict either the decision to chase, or the chasing persistence. These findings provide further evidence that nonchasers and chasers seem to belong to two quite distinct subtypes of gamblers. Such a difference could be useful for targeting more effective intervention strategies in gambling disorder treatment.

Alexithymia and Emotion Regulation Strategies in Adolescent Gamblers with and Without At-Risk Profiles

Alexithymia, difficulties in emotion regulation, and negative affect play an important role in adolescents who present pathological gambling. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were, firstly, to analyze the differences between alexithymia, difficulties in emotion regulation, and positive and negative affect in adolescents with and without risk of gambling problems. Secondly, the relationships between all the variables of the study in adolescents with and without risk of problem gambling were analyzed separately. Thirdly, we analyzed the mediating role of positive and negative affect in the relationship between alexithymia and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies (ERS) in adolescents at risk of gambling problems. The sample was composed of 206 adolescents with ages ranging from 12 to 18 years (M = 15.52; SD = 1.43). They were divided into two groups according to the score obtained in the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA). Thus, 84 were included in the group without risk of gambling problems and 122 in the group at risk of gambling problems. The results obtained revealed higher scores in negative affect and pathological gambling in the group at risk of gambling problems. Likewise, positive relationships between alexithymia, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (MERS), and affect were found. Mediation analyses showed that difficulties in identifying feelings were indirectly related to greater use of dysfunctional ERS through their relationship with negative affect in at-risk gamblers.

The study of differences by region and type of gambling on the degree of gambling addiction in Japan

We conducted an online national survey using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) on 42,880 people in Japan to identify gambling addiction prevalence differences with regard to gambling type and region. This study included 14,780 individuals (valid responses) who engaged in gambling activities in the past year. There was a large difference in mean SOGS score by gambling type: public gambling and casinos score ≈ 4.0, whereas lotteries (including numbers, etc.) ≈ 1.43. SOGS scores were much higher for those who participated in more than one gambling type than for those who participated in only one type. Regional differences in SOGS scores were also confirmed, with more populous prefectures having lower and less populous having higher SOGS scores. Integrating SOGS scores with existing data concerning hobbies and recreational behaviors across regions indicated that regions characterized by lower SOGS scores were also characterized by greater activity for hobbies and recreational behaviors.

An Item Response Theory-Based Scoring of the South Oaks Gambling Screen–Revised Adolescents

The South Oaks Gambling Screen–Revised Adolescent (SOGS-RA) is one of the most widely used screening tools for problem gambling among adolescents. In this study, item response theory was used for computing measures of problem gambling severity that took into account how much information the endorsed items provided about the presence of problem gambling. A zero-inflated mixture two-parameter logistic model was estimated on the responses of 4,404 adolescents to the South Oaks Gambling Screen–Revised Adolescent to compute the difficulty and discrimination of each item, and the problem gambling severity level (θ score) of each respondent. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to identify the cutoff on the θ scores that best distinguished daily and nondaily gamblers. This cutoff outperformed the common cutoff defined on the sum scores in identifying daily gamblers but fell behind it in identifying nondaily gamblers. When screening adolescents to be subjected to further investigations, the cutoff on the θ scores must be preferred to that on the sum scores.

Cryptocurrency investment: A safe venture or a new type of gambling?

Investment behaviour and gambling overlap from time to time. It is stated that there is a spectrum between gambling and investment behaviour, and there are “speculative” investment tools in the middle of the spectrum. Considering that it presents a higher risk because of its high volatility compared to traditional investment instruments, trading cryptocurrencies can become pathological and gambling-like. This study aims to investigate the pathological trading behaviour and frequency among cryptocurrency investors, to investigate additional gambling disorders, and to investigate the relationship between cryptocurrency investment behaviour and impulsivity. An online questionnaire was created to investigate these issues. In the questionnaire, the Pathological Trading Scale, the South Oaks Gambling Screen Test and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale were all used. A total of three hundred persons were evaluated. We found that total pathological traders were 48.7% of all traders, impulsivity in 18–25 age group was higher, high-frequency traders were more pathological, and their impulsivity was higher; also margin traders and day traders show more pathological behaviour. It seems that an important part of cryptocurrency traders may be pathological, and certain of them may have cryptocurrency addiction, which can be evaluated as a subtype of gambling disorder.Résumé Le comportement de l’investisseur et celui du joueur se chevauchent de temps à autre. On dit qu’il existe un spectre entre ces deux comportements, au milieu duquel se trouvent des outils d’investissement « spéculatif ». Compte tenu de leur risque plus élevé dû à leur plus grande volatilité par rapport aux instruments d’investissement traditionnels, les échanges de cryptomonnaies peuvent devenir pathologiques et s’apparenter aux jeux de hasard. Cette étude vise à analyser le comportement des investisseurs de cryptomonnaies et la fréquence de leurs opérations afin d’examiner d’autres troubles liés à la pratique des jeux de hasard et la relation entre le comportement des investisseurs de cryptomonnaies et l’impulsivité. Un questionnaire en ligne a été créé à cette fin et la Pathological Trading Scale, le South Oaks Gambling Screen Test et la Barratt Impulsivity Scale y étaient utilisés. En tout, 300 personnes ont été évaluées. Nous avons constaté que les joueurs pathologiques représentaient 48,7% de tous les spéculateurs, que l’impulsivité dans le groupe des personnes de 18 à 25 ans était plus élevée, et que les spéculateurs qui effectuaient des transactions plus souvent étaient plus pathologiques et faisaient preuve d’une plus grande impulsivité; de plus, les spéculateurs sur marge et les spéculateurs sur séance affichaient un comportement plus pathologique. Il semble qu’une proportion importante des spéculateurs de cryptomonnaies peuvent être pathologiques, et que certains d’entre eux peuvent être dépendants à l’égard des cryptomonnaies, ce qui peut être évalué comme un sous-type de jeu compulsif.

Szerencsejáték és bűnözés kapcsolatának magyarországi vizsgálata

Kutatásunkban a bűnözés és a szerencsejáték-függőség kapcsolatát, 175 fogvatartott börtönbe vonulás előtti játékszokásait, demográfiai jellemzőit és ezek kapcsolatait vizsgáltuk kérdőíves módszerrel. Ezt a kérdőívet használtuk már két korábbi, 2009-es és 2014-es kutatásunk során is, amelyek adatfelvételeken alapulva mérik fel az aktuális helyzetet. A kóros játékszenvedély vizsgálatára az South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) kérdőív eredeti változatát alkalmaztuk, azt kiegészítve demográfiai, valamint a vizsgálatunk szempontjából releváns kérdésekkel. Bár a több mint tíz évet felölelő kutatásunk során a problémás szerencsejátékosok aránya csökkent a vizsgált magyar büntetés-végrehajtási intézetekben, még így is igen jelentősnek mondható. Vizsgálatunk során megerősítést nyert, hogy a bűncselekmény elkövetésének közvetlen vagy közvetett oka a szenvedélyes szerencsejáték. A játékfüggők feminizációja egy viszonylag frissen kimutatott jelenség, melyre szintén kitérünk vizsgálatunk során. Emellett az intézményi dolgozók felkészítésére, képzésére és aveszélyeztetett kategóriában lévőkre is szeretnénk felhívni a figyelmet. Míg a vizsgáltak 11%-a állította, hogy börtönbe kerülésének köze volt a szerencsejátékhoz, ez az arány a játékfüggők esetén 28% volt. Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) kód: I12, K14

Online Relationships and Social Media Interaction in Youth Problem Gambling: A Four-Country Study

The objective of this study was to examine if belonging to online communities and social media identity bubbles predict youth problem gambling. An online survey was administered to 15–25-year-old participants in the United States (N = 1212), South Korea (N = 1192), Spain (N = 1212), and Finland (N = 1200). The survey measured two dimensions of online behavior: perceived sense of belonging to an online community and involvement in social media identity bubbles. Belonging to an online community was examined with a single item and involvement in social media identity bubbles was measured with the six-item Identity Bubble Reinforcement Scale. The South Oaks Gambling Screen was used to assess problem gambling. Statistical analyses utilized linear regression modeling. According to the analyses, strong sense of belonging to an online community was associated with higher problem gambling, but the association was observed mainly among those young individuals who were also involved in social media identity bubbles. For those youths who did not indicate identity bubble involvement, online relationships appeared to function as those offline. Some differences across the four countries were observed but overall, the results indicate that social media identity bubbles could partly explain the harmful influence that some online relations have on youth behavior.