Are gambling related cognitions in adolescence multidimensional?: Factor structure of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale

"If You Don't Arrange Your Bets Well You Will Still Lose": Gambling Strategies of Visually Impaired Students

Few studies have focused on people with hearing loss and intellectual disabilities engaging in gambling activities. However, people with visual impairments' energetic participation in sports betting activities is unexplored. This article highlights sports betting strategies of visually impaired students to understand how their motives affect their gambling behaviours as an alternative to their survival. Six male adults aged between 27 and 40 years participated using semi-structured interviews, which were conducted face-to-face, recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed with the Braun and Clarke model. Findings show that sports betting prevails in communities fostering peer persuasion including family relations serving as an inducer for visually impaired students. Their strategies are varied including the fewer the better concept based on teams' selection dynamics. While they are inspired by potential economic gains, some recognise it as acquiring entrepreneurial skills because of risk-taking, thus asymmetry and disconnected. The article recommends stakeholders' education to provide better policies that can remind them to bet for leisure or desist from gambling.

Gambling and virtual reality: unraveling the illusion of near-misses effect

Introduction

Studying gambling behavior is a crucial element in reducing the impact of problem gambling. Nevertheless, most current research is carried out in controlled laboratory settings rather than real-life situations, which raises concerns about how applicable the findings are in the broader context. Virtual reality (VR) has proven to be a valuable tool and has been utilized in various experimental scenarios. A limited number of studies have employed VR to investigate gambling behaviors, and few have explored them in an older adolescent context.

Methods

This study examined the behavioral and physiological effects of gambling behavior, including problem gambling, gaming addiction, and risk-taking decision-making in a sample of 36 high-school students aged between 18 to 20 years using an ad-hoc constructed VR scenario designed to simulate a slot-machine platform.

Results

The behavioral results highlighted that participants reporting more problem gambling were sensitive to near-misses: i.e., they bet more after near-misses than after losses. This result may reflect the false belief that gamblers, after near-misses, are closer to winning. Physiological data showed that participants exhibited heart rate deceleration during the anticipation of the outcome, which has been suggested to represent a marker of feedback anticipation processing and hyposensitivity to losses.

Discussion

Overall, this study provides evidence for a new VR tool to assess gambling behaviors and new insights into gambling-related behavioral and physiological factors. Implications for the treatment of problem gambling are discussed.

Validation of Gambling Related Cognitions Scale-Iranian Version (GRCS-IR)

Background

The change in gambling forms, a wide variety of advertising methods, the access to gambling, as well as the increase in participation in online gambling have made it important to know and investigate gambling, particularly as pathological gambling leads to psychological and physical damage.

Methods

The present study investigated the factor structure of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS) proposed by Raylu and Oei in addiction. The study sample included 574 participants (40.2% male, 59.8% female) between 18 and 56 years of age. The instruments used in the present study included the GRCS, the South Oaks Gambling Screen Questionnaire (SOGS), the Victorian Gambling Screen (VGS), and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).

Findings

A 5-factor GRCS model provided the best fit to the data, and gambling-related cognitions were a strong predictor of disordered gambling among adults. All subscales presented good internal consistency and scalability. The findings showed that the total score of the GRCS-IR was significantly different among men and women.

Conclusion

The findings of this study confirmed that the Iranian version of the GRCS-IR is an effective multidimensional instrument that accurately measures cognitive distortions related to gambling. Consequently, it can be utilized as a valuable tool for assessing GRC (Gambling Related Cognitions) to understand the severity of pathological gambling and has the potential capacity to measure treatment outcomes.

Parental gambling frequency and adolescent gambling: A cross-sectional path model involving adolescents and parents

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, most of the research studies in the field of adolescent gambling are focused on individual factors related to problem gambling. The aim of this study was to test an integrated model to explain adolescent problem gambling involving both individual (i.e., correct gambling knowledge, superstitious thinking, and gambling-related cognitive distortions) and environmental factors (i.e., parental gambling frequency). In detail, the aim was to better understand the role of parental gambling behavior on adolescents' gambling frequency and problem gambling severity, to draw indications for prevention.

METHODS

Participants were 680 parents (36% men; Mage = 48.32, SD = 6.14 years) of 680 high school students (51% boys; Mage = 15.51, SD = .55 years) attending the second year of different high schools in Tuscany (Italy). Data collection occurred within the school prevention program PRIZE (Prevention of gambling risk among adolescents).

RESULTS

A path model showed was conducted to detect direct and indirect effects from individual and environmental factors to gambling problem severity. Analyses showed that correct gambling knowledge and superstitious thinking were directly related-respectively in a negative and a positive direction-both to gambling-related cognitive distortions and adolescents' gambling frequency. Parental gambling frequency was directly associated with adolescents' gambling frequency. Correct gambling knowledge and superstitious thinking were indirectly related to adolescents' gambling problem severity through the mediational role of gambling-related cognitive distortions and gambling frequency. Parental gambling frequency was indirectly linked to gambling problem severity by passing through adolescents' gambling frequency.

CONCLUSIONS

The current cross-sectional results confirm that parental gambling behavior has an important role for adolescents' gambling behavior and severity. Thus, results highlight the need for innovative prevention programs which involve adolescents' adult reference figures and integrate the individual risk and protective factors with the environmental ones.

GAMBLINGLESS IN-THE-MOMENT: Protocol for a micro-randomised trial of a gambling Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (Preprint)

Background

The presence of discrete but fluctuating precipitants, in combination with the dynamic nature of gambling episodes, calls for the development of tailored interventions delivered in real time, such as just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). JITAIs leverage mobile and wireless technologies to address dynamically changing individual needs by providing the type and amount of support required at the right time and only when needed. They have the added benefit of reaching underserved populations by providing accessible, convenient, and low-burden support. Despite these benefits, few JITAIs targeting gambling behavior are available.

Objective

This study aims to redress this gap in service provision by developing and evaluating a theoretically informed and evidence-based JITAI for people who want to reduce their gambling. Delivered via a smartphone app, GamblingLess: In-The-Moment provides tailored cognitive-behavioral and third-wave interventions targeting cognitive processes explicated by the relapse prevention model (cravings, self-efficacy, and positive outcome expectancies). It aims to reduce gambling symptom severity (distal outcome) through short-term reductions in the likelihood of gambling episodes (primary proximal outcome) by improving craving intensity, self-efficacy, or expectancies (secondary proximal outcomes). The primary aim is to explore the degree to which the delivery of a tailored intervention at a time of cognitive vulnerability reduces the probability of a subsequent gambling episode.

Methods

GamblingLess: In-The-Moment interventions are delivered to gamblers who are in a state of receptivity (available for treatment) and report a state of cognitive vulnerability via ecological momentary assessments 3 times a day. The JITAI will tailor the type, timing, and amount of support for individual needs. Using a microrandomized trial, a form of sequential factorial design, each eligible participant will be randomized to a tailored intervention condition or no intervention control condition at each ecological momentary assessment across a 28-day period. The microrandomized trial will be supplemented by a 6-month within-group follow-up evaluation to explore long-term effects on primary (gambling symptom severity) and secondary (gambling behavior, craving severity, self-efficacy, and expectancies) outcomes and an acceptability evaluation via postintervention surveys, app use and engagement indices, and semistructured interviews. In all, 200 participants will be recruited from Australia and New Zealand.

Results

The project was funded in June 2019, with approval from the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee (2020-304). Stakeholder user testing revealed high acceptability scores. The trial began on March 29, 2022, and 84 participants have been recruited (as of June 24, 2022). Results are expected to be published mid-2024.

Conclusions

GamblingLess: In-The-Moment forms part of a suite of theoretically informed and evidence-based web-based and mobile gambling interventions. This trial will provide important empirical data that can be used to facilitate the JITAI’s optimization to make it a more effective, efficient, and scalable tailored intervention.

Trial Registration

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12622000490774; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=380757&isClinicalTrial=False

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/38958

Ecological Momentary Assessment of the Relationship between Positive Outcome Expectancies and Gambling Behaviour

Relapse prevention models suggest that positive outcome expectancies can constitute situational determinants of relapse episodes that interact with other factors to determine the likelihood of relapse. The primary aims were to examine reciprocal relationships between situational positive gambling outcome expectancies and gambling behaviour and moderators of these relationships. An online survey and a 28 day Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) were administered to 109 past-month gamblers (84% with gambling problems). EMA measures included outcome expectancies (enjoyment/arousal, self-enhancement, money), self-efficacy, craving, negative emotional state, interpersonal conflict, social pressure, positive emotional state, financial pressures, and gambling behaviour (episodes, expenditure). Pre-EMA measures included problem gambling severity, motives, psychological distress, coping strategies, and outcome expectancies. No reciprocal relationships between EMA outcome expectancies and gambling behaviour (episodes, expenditure) were identified. Moderations predicting gambling episodes revealed: (1) cravings and problem gambling exacerbated effects of enjoyment/arousal expectancies; (2) positive emotional state and positive reframing coping exacerbated effects of self-enhancement expectancies; and (3) instrumental social support buffered effects of money expectancies. Positive outcome expectancies therefore constitute situational determinants of gambling behaviour, but only when they interact with other factors. All pre-EMA expectancies predicted problem gambling severity (OR = 1.61-3.25). Real-time interventions addressing gambling outcome expectancies tailored to vulnerable gamblers are required.

Graded Exposure Therapy for Online Mobile Smartphone Sports Betting Addiction: A Case Series Report

Advances in technology and increased usage of electronic mobile devices over the past decade have changed the way gamblers engage with online gambling. The convenience of mobile electronic devices is understood to be a major contributor to the increase of online gambling, which in turn has been implicated in the growth of sports betting. Emerging evidence suggests several sources of differentiation between mobile and other online gambling, which have important psychological implications. Given the inherent differences, we cannot conclude that evidence for the effectiveness of treatment for non-smartphone problem gambling (PG) automatically translates to online smartphone sports betting PG. The aim of this study, therefore, was to describe the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of cue exposure therapy (CET) to treat individuals presenting to a community-based PG therapy service with an online smartphone sports betting addiction, using a case series design. Six men (21-42 years old) received up to 10 weekly 60-min manualised CET sessions. Outcome measures were gambling harm, gambling urge, gambling cognitions, psychological distress, and functional impairment. All six participants completed a course of CET averaging 8.33 sessions (SD = 1.75) and reported improvement across each of the outcome measures. Psychological distress scores had reduced to the non-clinical range for all six participants and five participants scored below the cut offs for PG and functional impairment at 1 month follow up. The findings provide preliminary proof of concept evidence for the feasibility and efficacy of CET for online smartphone sports betting addiction.

Association of Near-Miss with Two Erroneous Gambling Cognitions and Betting Intention: Evidence from Nigerian Adolescents

Evidences show increase of positive attitudes of Nigerian adolescents towards gambling in the past decade. Nigerian adolescents have been shown to spend significant part of their academic time and resources on Soccer bets. This behaviour could act as a predisposing factor for poor academic performances and problem gambling at adulthood. The present study drew from the cognitive distortion model to examine the mediational role of near-miss in the erroneous cognition-betting intention association through a survey study design. Male adolescents (N = 237; Mean age = 17.37 years; SD = 4.13) of public schools in Nigeria who engage in Soccer betting took part in the study. They completed self-report measures of erroneous cognition, near-miss and betting intention. Results revealed that interpretative bias was not associated with near-miss while it was positively associated with betting intention. Illusion of control was positively associated with near-miss and betting intention. Near-miss was positively associated with betting intention and mediated the associations between interpretative bias and betting intention (negative mediation) and illusion of control, and betting intention (positive mediation). The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Gambling in adolescence: a narrative review of the last 20 years

BACKGROUND

Gambling has increasingly become a problem in adolescence over the last 20 years. Previous research has failed to identify exactly the level of involvement of adolescents in gambling, yet a relevant presence of addictive behaviors was noticed.

OBJECTIVE

This narrative review highlights the implications of adolescent gambling, taking into consideration the main risk and protection factors aimed at limiting gambling activity, as well as the main links with the impulse-control disorder, addiction, and behavioral addiction.

METHODS

The review process was conducted through Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar search engines. The considered keywords were "Gambling" AND "Adolescence," "Behavioral addiction," AND "Adolescence." The articles related to gambling and adolescence in the last 20 years were included in compliance with inclusion and exclusion criteria, to perform a consistent analysis of the phenomenon and the related maintenance factors.

RESULTS

Starting from 1067 articles, 107 were selected to denote the main thematic areas involved in the gambling problem. The online search was completed on December 13, 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

The narrative review of literature can facilitate the analysis of gambling problems in adolescence, as the main studies in the last 20 years showed the complexity of the problem, the links between addiction, and the most effective methods of prevention and treatment.

The paradoxical relationship between emotion regulation and gambling-related cognitive biases

Background

Gambling behavior presents substantial individual variability regarding its severity, manifestations, and psychological correlates. Specifically, differences in emotion regulation, impulsivity, and cognitive distortions have been identified as crucial to describe individual profiles with implications for the prevention, prognosis, and treatment of gambling disorder (GD).

Aims and method

The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations of gambling-related cognitions (measured according to the GRCS model) with impulsivity (UPPS-P model) and emotion regulation (CERQ model), in a sample of 246 gamblers with different levels of gambling involvement, using mixed-effects modelling to isolate theoretically relevant associations while controlling for the potentially confounding effects of sociodemographic and clinical covariates.

Results

Affective/motivational dimensions of UPPS-P impulsivity positive urgency and sensation seeking, on the one hand, and CERQ emotion regulation strategies reappraisal, rumination and blaming others, on the other, independently and significantly predicted distorted gambling-related cognitions.

Conclusions

These results (a) reinforce the ones of previous studies stressing the relevance of emotional and motivational processes in the emergence of gambling-related cognitive distortions; and (b) replicate the seemingly paradoxical finding that gamblers use emotion regulation strategies customarily considered as adaptive (i.e. reappraisal) to strengthen and justify their biased beliefs about gambling outcomes and controllability.

Decision-Making Styles, Negative Affectivity, and Cognitive Distortions in Adolescent Gambling

Evidences from the extant literature suggest that problem gamblers show higher cognitive distortions and reported experiencing higher levels of negative affective states than recreational gamblers. Furthermore, several studies reported that the more the gambling severity, the poorer the performance in behavioral tasks assessing affective decision-making. Although gambling research on decision-making has mostly focused on the functional or dysfunctional outcomes of the decisional process, no study examined the role of decision-making styles in gambling disorder. This study aimed to first investigate the interplay among negative affectivity, cognitive distortions, and decision-making styles in adolescent problem gambling. Four hundred and twenty-five adolescents, aged between 14 and 19 years, completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents to assess problem gambling, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 to measure negative affective states, and the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale as a measure of cognitive distortions about gambling, and the General Decision-Making Style tapping habitual patterns which individuals use in decision-making. Data were submitted to correlational analysis, univariate and mixed-model ANOVAs, and hierarchical regression analysis. Regression analysis indicated that, along with gender, interpretative bias and inability to stop gambling, depression, and spontaneous decision-making style significantly predicted gambling severity. These results extend further previous studies on the role of misconceptions about gambling, and negative affective states in adolescent gambling, and, interestingly, first demonstrate that also maladaptive decision-making styles may represent a risk factor for gambling disorder.

Time Perspectives and Gambling in Adolescent Boys: Differential Effects of Present- and Future-Orientation

Adolescent boys are characterised by increased risk-taking behavior, including a relatively high propensity to develop problem gambling habits. The association between gambling and sensitivity to immediately available rewards is well-established, suggesting that gamblers are less influenced by potential future consequences than non-gamblers. Nevertheless, existing studies have considered present- and future-orientation as two ends of the same continuum, and have not investigated the possibility that present and future perspectives might make independent contributions to gambling behavior. In the current study, we adopted Zimbardo's multidimensional approach, which discriminates between not only present and future perspectives, but also between a hedonistic and fatalistic present-orientation (in addition to positive and negative orientations towards the past). The participants were 223 male adolescents (mean age = 16.7 years). We investigated the effects of time perspectives on gambling frequency and gambling problem severity, after taking into account the effects of age, sensation seeking, and gambling-related cognitive distortions. Gambling frequency was significantly predicted by the present fatalistic perspective, and problem gambling was significantly (negatively) related to the future perspective. The present hedonistic and past negative perspectives were also significantly related to both gambling frequency and gambling problems, although they did not explain additional variance in gambling behavior when the effects of the other factors were controlled. Overall, these results offer a fresh perspective on the role of time perspectives in gambling behavior, with potential implications for understanding the origins of gambling problems and the development of novel interventions.

The steamy mirror of adolescent gamblers: Mentalization, impulsivity, and time horizon

This study aimed to first investigate the role that general impairment in mentalization plays in gambling disorder and to analyze the interplay among mentalizing, impulsivity, and time perspective in adolescent gambling. Four hundred and ten late adolescents took part in the study. Participants were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA), the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8), the Functional and Dysfunctional Impulsivity Scale (FDIS), and the 14-item Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFC-14). The results showed that male adolescents are far more likely at-risk/problem gamblers than female adolescents. Furthermore, data indicated that the higher the gambling severity, the higher the dysfunctional impulsivity and the shorter the time horizon. Linear regression analysis showed that impairments in mentalizing represent a significant predictor of gambling severity. Finally, to clarify if dysfunctional impulsivity was on the path from uncertain mentalizing to gambling severity or if mentalizing was the mediator of the impact of functional impulsivity on gambling severity, data were submitted to path analysis. Results indicated that deficit in mentalizing has a direct effect on gambling severity and mediates the association between dysfunctional impulsivity and gambling involvement. The relation between gambling severity and RFQ-8 scores suggests that general impairment in mentalizing plays a key role in adolescent problematic gambling.

Tempting fate: Chasing and maladaptive personality traits in gambling behavior

Chasing, or continuing to gamble in an attempt to recoup losses, is a salient feature of problematic gambling. This study, which controlled for gambling severity and alcohol consumption, investigated the association between chasing and maladaptive personality trait domains among habitual gamblers. Participants comprised 126 adult habitual gamblers (73% males) aged between 18 and 69 years. They were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form (PID-5-BF), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and a computerized task developed to assess chasing behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to two chasing conditions (Control and Loss). Data were submitted to correlational analysis, univariate and mixed-model ANOVAs, logistic and linear regression analyses. Results showed that the decision to chase was strongly associated with the PID-5-BF Disinhibition domain scores, whereas chasing proneness was related to the Disinhibition, Detachment and Psychoticism domains. Interestingly, chasers scored higher than nonchasers on maladaptive personality dimensions, even after controlling for gender, age, chasing condition, alcohol consumption, and gambling severity. Since these findings support the idea that chasers and nonchasers are different subtypes of gamblers, clinical interventions should take into account the additive role of chasing in gambling disorder.

Gender differences in temporal relationships between gambling urge and cognitions in treatment-seeking adults

Many gambling-specific CBT programs seek to target either gambling-related urge or cognitions or both. However, little is known of the influence of one symptom type on another across time and whether these differ for men and women help-seeking problem gamblers. The aim of this study was threefold: to determine presence of measurement invariance for urge and cognition measures over time; to investigate the effect of baseline urge on end-of-treatment gambling-related cognitions - and the reciprocal relationship; and, identify whether these pathways differ across gender. Self-reported gambling urge (GUS), and gambling-related cognitions (GRCS) data from treatment-seeking problem gamblers prior to and post treatment (N = 223; 62% men) were analyzed with cross-lagged panel models, moderated by gender. Conceptualization of urge and cognitions were found to be temporally stable. There was no significant association between baseline GUS scores and post-treatment GRCS scores, nor the reverse relationship. Putatively, this infers that coexisting urge and gambling-related cognition components of problem gambling operate independently over time. Analyses revealed gambling urge had a significantly stronger tracking correlation across time for men than women when adjusting for cognition paths. This investigation provides early evidence for tailoring CBT in response to sub-population gambling-related characteristics, demonstrated across men and women.

The intergenerational transmission of problem gambling: The mediating role of offspring gambling expectancies and motives

INTRODUCTION

The risk for developing a gambling problem is greater among offspring who have a problem gambling parent, yet little research has directly examined the mechanisms by which this transmission of problem gambling occurs. For this reason, the present study sought to examine the degree to which children's expectancies and motives relating to gambling explain, at least in part, the intergenerational transmission of problem gambling.

METHODS

Participants (N=524; 56.5% male) were recruited from educational institutions, and retrospectively reported on parental problem gambling. Problem gambling was measured using the Problem Gambling Severity Index and a range of positive and negative expectancies and gambling motives were explored as potential mediators of the relationship between parent-and-participant problem gambling.

RESULTS

The relationship between parent-and-participant problem gambling was significant, and remained so after controlling for sociodemographic factors and administration method. Significant mediators of this relationship included self-enhancement expectancies (feeling in control), money expectancies (financial gain), over-involvement (preoccupation with gambling) and emotional impact expectancies (guilt, shame, and loss), as well as enhancement motives (gambling to increase positive feelings) and coping motives (gambling to reduce or avoid negative emotions). All mediators remained significant when entered into the same model.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight that gambling expectancies and motives present unique pathways to the development of problem gambling in the offspring of problem gambling parents, and suggest that gambling cognitions may be potential candidates for targeted interventions for the offspring of problem gamblers.

Gambling-Related Distortions and Problem Gambling in Adolescents: A Model to Explain Mechanisms and Develop Interventions

Although a number of gambling preventive initiatives have been realized with adolescents, many of them have been developed in absence of a clear and explicitly described theoretical model. The present work was aimed to analyze the adequacy of a model to explain gambling behavior referring to gambling-related cognitive distortions (Study 1), and to verify the effectiveness of a preventive intervention developed on the basis of this model (Study 2). Following dual-process theories on cognitive functioning, in Study 1 we tested a model in which mindware gap, i.e., susceptibility to the gambler's fallacy, and contaminated mindware, i.e., superstitious thinking, were the antecedents of gambling-related cognitive distortions that, in turn, affect gambling frequency and problem gambling. Participants were 306 male adolescents (Mage = 17.2 years). A path analysis indicated that cognitive distortions have a mediating role in the relationship that links probabilistic reasoning fallacy and superstitious thinking with problem gambling. Following these findings, in Study 2 we developed a school-based intervention aimed to reduce gambling-related cognitive distortions acting on the above cited mindware problems. A pre- and post-test design - with a 6 months follow-up - was performed with 34 male adolescents (Mage = 16.8), randomly assigned to two groups (Training and No Training), and their baseline equivalence was verified. A Mixed 2 × 2 ANOVA attested a significant Time X Group interaction, indicating a significant reduction of the cognitive distortions from pre-test to post-test only in the Training group. The follow-up attested to the stability of the training effects and the reduction of gambling frequency over time. These findings suggest that prevention strategies should address mindware problems, which can be considered as predictors of gambling-related cognitive distortions.

Decision making, cognitive distortions and emotional distress: A comparison between pathological gamblers and healthy controls

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The etiology of problem gambling is multifaceted and complex. Among others factors, poor decision making, cognitive distortions (i.e., irrational beliefs about gambling), and emotional factors (e.g., negative mood states) appear to be among the most important factors in the development and maintenance of problem gambling. Although empirical evidence has suggested that cognitive distortions facilitate gambling and negative emotions are associated with gambling, the interplay between cognitive distortions, emotional states, and decision making in gambling remains unexplored.

METHODS

Pathological gamblers (N = 54) and healthy controls (N = 54) completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21).

RESULTS

Compared to healthy controls, pathological gamblers showed poorer decision making and reported higher scores on measures assessing cognitive distortions and emotional distress. All measures were positively associated with gambling severity. A significant negative correlation between decision making and cognitive distortions was also observed. No associations were found between poor decision making and emotional distress. Logistic regression analysis indicated that cognitive distortions, emotional distress, and poor decision making were significant predictors of problem gambling.

LIMITATIONS

The use of self-report measures and the absence of female participants limit the generalizability of the reported findings.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study is the first to demonstrate the mutual influence between irrational beliefs and poor decision making, as well as the role of cognitive bias, emotional distress, and poor decision making in gambling disorder.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Spanish version of the Gamblers' Beliefs Questionnaire in a sample of Argentinean gamblers

INTRODUCTION

Cognitive distortions are related to gambling frequency and gambling severity. Having a culturally sensitive measure to assess cognitive distortions will facilitate the early detection of people who might be at risk of developing problematic gambling behaviors. The Gamblers' Beliefs Questionnaire was translated into Spanish (GBQ-S) but no previous study explored the structure of the GBQ-S in a non-US sample with different levels of gambling involvement.

AIM

The present study examined the factor structure of the GBQ-S in a community sample of gamblers from Argentina. It also analyzed the association between cognitive distortions and type of gambling activity and frequency of gambling behaviors and the predictive utility of the GBQ-S on gambling severity.

PARTICIPANTS

508 youth and adults completed the GBQ-S.

RESULTS

The CFA showed an overall acceptable fit to the data confirming the proposed two-factor model. Scores of the two GBQ sub-scales were positively and significantly correlated with scores on gambling severity. Cognitive distortions have a significant effect on gambling severity after controlling for frequency of engagement in gambling activities. Luck and perseverance, but not illusion of control, was positively related to gambling severity.

DISCUSSION

scores measured by the GBQ-S exhibit adequate psychometric properties for the accurate assessment of cognitive distortions across adults and youth from the general community of Argentina.

Reliability of Instruments Measuring At-Risk and Problem Gambling Among Young Individuals: A Systematic Review Covering Years 2009-2015

This review aims to clarify which instruments measuring at-risk and problem gambling (ARPG) among youth are reliable and valid in light of reported estimates of internal consistency, classification accuracy, and psychometric properties. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Medline, and PsycInfo covering the years 2009-2015. In total, 50 original research articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria: target age under 29 years, using an instrument designed for youth, and reporting a reliability estimate. Articles were evaluated with the revised Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool. Reliability estimates were reported for five ARPG instruments. Most studies (66%) evaluated the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents. The Gambling Addictive Behavior Scale for Adolescents was the only novel instrument. In general, the evaluation of instrument reliability was superficial. Despite its rare use, the Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory (CAGI) had a strong theoretical and methodological base. The Gambling Addictive Behavior Scale for Adolescents and the CAGI were the only instruments originally developed for youth. All studies, except the CAGI study, were population based. ARPG instruments for youth have not been rigorously evaluated yet. Further research is needed especially concerning instruments designed for clinical use.

Exploring the measurement structure of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS) in treatment-seekers: A Bayesian structural equation modelling approach

Knowledge of a problem gambler's underlying gambling related cognitions plays an important role in treatment planning. The Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS) is therefore frequently used in clinical settings for screening and evaluation of treatment outcomes. However, GRCS validation studies have generated conflicting results regarding its latent structure using traditional confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). This may partly be due to the rigid constraints imposed on cross-factor loadings with traditional CFA. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether a Bayesian structural equation modelling (BSEM) approach to examination of the GRCS factor structure would better replicate substantive theory and also inform model re-specifications. Participants were 454 treatment-seekers at first presentation to a gambling treatment centre between January 2012 and December 2014. Model fit indices were well below acceptable standards for CFA. In contrast, the BSEM model which included small informative priors for the residual covariance matrix in addition to cross-loadings produced excellent model fit for the original hypothesised factor structure. The results also informed re-specification of the CFA model which provided more reasonable model fit. These conclusions have implications that should be useful to both clinicians and researchers evaluating measurement models relating to gambling related cognitions in treatment-seekers.

Psychometric properties of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS) in young Italian gamblers

INTRODUCTION

The involvement in gambling activities is increasing among adolescents, together with the risk of developing gambling problems. Given the important role of erroneous beliefs on adolescent problematic gambling behavior, the aim of this study was to investigate the adequacy of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS; Raylu & Oei, 2004) to assess gambling-related distortions among youth in Italy.

METHODS

The scale was administered to 1656 Italian high school students (65% males, mean age=16.15 years, SD=1.44), and analyses were carried out with respondents who have gambled during the previous year (N=1224).

RESULTS

The adequacy of the five-factor model was confirmed (both among male and female adolescent gamblers), as well as the reliability of the total scale and subscales. Evidence for the validity of the GRCS among adolescents was provided confirming the relationship between gambling-related cognitions and problem gambling found in previous studies. Research on the validity of the scale was also extended by investigating the relationship between cognitive distortions about gambling and the frequency of engaging in different gambling activities.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results confirm that the GRCS is an effective multidimensional instrument which accurately measures young gamblers' cognitive distortions relating to gambling. As such, it can be used as a useful tool in the assessment and treatment of juvenile gambling.

The neural bases of cognitive processes in gambling disorder

Functional imaging is offering powerful new tools to investigate the neurobiology of cognitive functioning in people with and without psychiatric conditions like gambling disorder. Based on similarities between gambling and substance-use disorders in neurocognitive and other domains, gambling disorder has recently been classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edn) (DSM-5) as a behavioral addiction. Despite the advances in understanding, there exist multiple unanswered questions about the pathophysiology underlying gambling disorder and the promise for translating the neurobiological understanding into treatment advances remains largely unrealized. Here we review the neurocognitive underpinnings of gambling disorder with a view to improving prevention, treatment, and policy efforts.