Journal of Gambling Studies最新文献

The aim of this study is to evaluate the readability and reliability of websites providing information about gambling. The study assessed 65 Turkish-language websites from Google. In this study, readability was assessed using the Ateşman Readability Index, which determines textual difficulty based on sentence and word length. Additionally, the reliability of the content was evaluated using the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark, which assesses the trustworthiness of online information through four key criteria: authorship, attribution, disclosure, and currency. Journal of the American Medical Association score was 1.23 ± 0.93, and 64.6% of websites were rated as having "insufficient information/low reliability. The average Ateşman score was 51.63 ± 12.51, corresponding to an 11th-12th grade reading level, which is considered moderately difficult for general population. Despite 81.5% of the sites originating from health organizations, both readability and reliability were found to be inadequate. These findings highlight the need for more accessible and trustworthy digital resources on gambling addiction. Collaboration among content creators, health professionals, and policymakers is recommended to improve the readability and reliability of online health information.

Poker-machines present a significant problem gambling risk in Australia, with adverse health, financial, and social outcomes. Previous research has demonstrated that gambling cues (e.g., poker-machine sounds) elicit an urge to gamble in poker-machine gamblers, with greater problem gambling severity predicting a stronger cue-reactive urge to gamble. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain largely unexplored. Consequently, the present study investigated whether cue-reactive state mindfulness mediates the relationship between problem gambling severity and cue-reactive urge to gamble. Seventy adults (67% male and 33% female) with an age range of 20 to 66 years (M = 41.1, SD = 10.8) participated in an online, repeated-measures experiment. Participants completed the Problem Gambling Severity Index, then subsequently, at three time points (baseline, post-neutral cue, and post-gambling cue), a visual analogue scale measuring the strength of the urge to gamble, and the State Mindfulness Scale. The urge to gamble significantly increased from neutral cue to gambling cue, after controlling for baseline urge. Cue-reactive state mindfulness did not mediate the relationship between problem gambling severity and cue-reactive urge to gamble. Contrary to predictions, state mindfulness increased following exposure to the gambling cue. The present findings contribute to the body of research supporting cue-reactivity in problem gamblers.

Gambling Disorder and its adverse outcomes are prevalent in Chinese gamblers, and modifiable cognitive factors should be identified to improve interventions. Drawing on the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model, the present study examined the associations between positive and negative metacognitions about gambling, attentional inflexibility, and severity of Gambling Disorder symptoms in 1,024 Chinese gamblers. Results revealed that, consistent with hypotheses, both positive and negative metacognitions about gambling were positively correlated with severity of Gambling Disorder symptoms. Furthermore, attentional inflexibility significantly mediated the association between both positive and negative metacognitions about gambling and severity of Gambling Disorder symptoms. These findings not only provide additional evidence on the application of S-REF model to understanding Gambling Disorder but also highlight the potential benefits of Metacognitive Therapy in both restructuring metacognitions about gambling and modifying attentional inflexibility in mitigating gambling problems.

A cognitive tendency toward high risk-taking is linked to gambling disorder (GD), but the specific behavioral manifestations of risky decision-making in GD are unclear. This study addresses this by analyzing differences in behavior between individuals with GD and healthy controls using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Data from 169 adults were analyzed, including 116 with GD (57 severe, 59 mild-to-moderate) and 53 healthy controls. Four metrics were used: (1) total earnings to quantify risk decision-making ability, (2) number of exploded balloons to quantify risk propensity, (3) adjusted average pumps to quantify risk-taking level, and (4) unexploded pumps' standard deviation (SD) to quantify exploratory tendency. Statistical comparisons and correlations among these metrics were examined. Significant differences were found between the GD and control groups in total earnings and the unexploded pumps' SD, with a positive correlation between these measures in the GD group. The unexploded pumps' SD fully mediated the relationship between group membership (GD vs. HC) and total earnings. These patterns were consistent across severe GD groups. While severe GD participants had similar total earnings to the mild-to-moderate group, they exhibited a higher unexploded pumps' SD and showed a significant correlation between total earnings and the unexploded pumps' SD. Individuals with GD demonstrate poorer risk decision-making abilities and higher exploratory tendencies compared to healthy controls. The higher exploratory tendency is a key factor in their disadvantageous decision-making. Severe GD is characterized by a greater exploratory tendency than mild-to-moderate GD. These findings underscore the importance of evaluating exploratory tendencies in risky decision-making and suggest that future GD treatments should target the cognitive neural mechanisms underlying this tendency for more effective diagnostics and therapy.

An individual's ability to make informed decisions about future gambling expenditure requires an awareness of affordability and likely return, and hence an accurate understanding of their past outcomes. Electronic gaming machines (EGMs) have been criticised for having structural characteristics that erode informed decision-making (e.g., loses disguised as wins, display of credits vs. currency). Here we investigate individual's understanding of their recent and future  EGM spending. Survey responses for 187 Australian EGM customers (age range:18-81, 57% female) were linked to their account data held by a gambling venue. Few customers accurately recalled and predicted their past/future 30-day expenditure to within a 10% margin of error, including net outcome (i.e., accurate recall [5.5%] or prediction [17.4%] of total amount won or lost); win (10.5%; 32.9%), and total spend (2.6%; 12.8%). The ability to accurately report gambling expenditure was almost exclusively limited to those who did not gamble during the period reported. Participants with greater impulsivity and more willingness to take risks were less accurate in their prediction of net outcome and spend, respectively. Across recall and prediction, participants commonly overestimated their net result, yet underestimated the amount they won, suggesting that winnings are re-gambled without considering them as their own funds. Our findings demonstrate EGM customers do not understand their gambling expenditure and changes are needed to the product and environment to facilitate informed choice.

While self-exclusion for individuals who gamble is widely recognized and implemented as an important consumer protection measure worldwide, third-party exclusion, initiated by relatives or gambling providers, is currently only available in a few countries. The aim of this article is to provide a timely descriptive evaluation of the exclusion registry in Germany, where third-party exclusion is mandatory by law, in relation to different types of gambling and the frequency of use by gambling providers. The relevant authority has provided data from licensed providers, broken down by self-exclusion and third-party exclusion. The majority of exclusion requests in 2024 (N = 303,876) were made through self-exclusion. Specifically, 96.8% of all exclusions were initiated by the players themselves, while only 3.2% resulted from third-party requests. The lowest proportions of third-party exclusions were observed in the sectors of gambling halls with German-style slot machines (0.7%), virtual slot machines (1.1%), and online poker (1.5%). The low proportion of third-party exclusions may be due to a conflict of interest, as gambling providers often generate significant revenue from individuals with gambling problems, making this group a lucrative target market. However, preliminary empirical evidence suggests that third-party exclusions have positive effects, showing comparable rates of abstinence and reduced gambling behavior to those who self-exclude. Mandatory third-party exclusions help minimize harm and represent a valuable addition to public health strategies. Nevertheless, further research is needed to expand the limited database, and the low use of third-party exclusions by providers calls for stronger regulatory oversight.

Gambling harm is a significant public health burden, yet treatment uptake is low. Electronic screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (e-SBIRT) programmes have potential to increase uptake and improve treatment outcomes. However, no studies to date have investigated e-SBIRT in the context of gambling. We conducted a single-arm mixed-methods study of acceptability of e-SBIRT for gambling. Quantitative acceptability was indicated by users' perceived satisfaction, impact and helpfulness of the e-SBIRT. Qualitative acceptability was explored using semi-structured interviews. Participants (n = 63), pre-screened for gambling severity, reported high levels of satisfaction with the e-SBIRT, found it helpful, and were more likely to seek treatment. Participants with higher gambling severity scores found the e-SBIRT more acceptable and were more likely to seek treatment following the intervention. Qualitative feedback (n = 7) supported the e-SBIRT's acceptability. The present findings support the acceptability of e-SBIRT for gambling. Further research is required to refine the intervention and examine its effectiveness with those with gambling harm.

Gambling among young people is a growing public health concern, particularly as gambling becomes more accessible through changing policy and increased online gambling platforms. College students are a high-risk population for problem gambling, yet limited research has synthesized evidence on its academic implications. This scoping review examined the association between gambling behavior and academic performance among undergraduate college students in order to summarize findings, identify methodological patterns, and highlight gaps to inform future research. Eligible studies included peer-reviewed, empirical research that quantitatively assessed the relationship between gambling and academic performance (i.e., grades) among undergraduate college students worldwide. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The majority of studies found a negative association between gambling and academic performance in college, with both general gambling behavior and pathological gambling consistently linked to lower grade point average (GPA). There is a vital need for updated research in the context of a rapidly changing gambling landscape, as the majority of studies in this review were over ten years old. To address methodological limitations of existing research on the relationship between gambling and academic performance among college students, future research should prioritize longitudinal data collection, standardized measures of gambling behavior, and the use of rigorous statistical methods that account for potential covariates. Gambling may impair academic performance in college students, and additional research is needed to better understand this relationship and inform campus-based prevention, harm reduction, and treatment strategies to bolster student success.

This study investigates the influence of derived relations on attentional bias toward near-misses in slot machine gambling, expanding on the consistent findings of the effect in gambling research. We aimed to replicate earlier findings by examining how learning to associate near-misses with a "loss" affects attentional bias to gambling-related stimuli. The study employed an experimental design in which 24 recreational gamblers were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in a relational training task: one group was trained to associate near-misses with the concept of "loss," the other with "almost." Participants engaged in a simulated slot machine game while their eye movements were tracked from which attentional bias for near-miss slot-machine outcomes was derived from eye-tracking data. The results revealed that participants who learned to associate near-misses with "loss" exhibited a significant reduction in their attentional bias for near-miss outcomes compared to those who learned to associate near-misses as being an "almost" gambling result. These findings further support problem gambling research indicating that near-misses are a potent event capable of capturing and maintaining attention, aligning with cognitive bias theories in gambling. Moreover, the study provides additional support for incentive-sensitization theory and suggests potential applications for targeted interventions in gambling disorders.