Journal of Gambling Studies最新文献

This research explores the engagement of player-facing casino employees with GameSense, a responsible gambling (RG) program, and referral of players to GameSense. We surveyed 280 employees across three casinos in Massachusetts that use this RG program as part of their RG strategy. We found that although most player-facing casino employees were aware of GameSense, slightly over half visited a GameSense Information Center, and about two-thirds interacted with a GameSense Advisor. In terms of the reason for visiting, Latent Class Analysis (LCA) revealed three distinct classes: Comprehensive Interests, RG Interests, and Focused Interests. As for those who have yet to visit, LCA two classes emerged: RG Proficiency Beliefs and Tempered RG Proficiency Beliefs. Engaged employees were more likely to refer players to GameSense, highlighting the need for targeted approaches addressing the diverse interests of player-facing employees for engaging or not engaging with GameSense. These findings underscore the importance of have player-facing casino employees engage with RG programming, and targeted approached for engagement, to enhance the efficacy of RG initiatives, and contribute to a more robust RG framework within the gambling industry.

Little is known about how gamblers form probability assessments. This paper reports on a preregistered study that administered an incentivized Bayesian choice task to n = 465 self-reported gamblers and non-gamblers. The task elicits subjective probability assessments and allows one to estimate the degree to which distinct information sources are weighted in forming probability assessments. Our data failed to support our main hypotheses that experienced online gamblers would be more accurate than non-gamblers in estimating probabilities, that gamblers experienced in games of skill (e.g., poker) would be more accurate than gamblers experienced only in non-skill games (e.g., slots), that accuracy would differ by sex, or that information sources would be weighted differently across different participant groups. Exploratory analysis, however, revealed that gambling frequency predicted lower Bayesian accuracy, while cognitive reflection predicted higher accuracy. The decline in accuracy linked to self-reported gambling frequency was stronger for female participants. Decision modeling estimated a decreased weight place on new evidence (over base rate odds) for those participant groups who showed decreased accuracy, which suggests that a proper incorporation of new information is important for probability assessments. Our results link online gambling frequency to worse performance in the critical probability assessment skills that should benefit gambling success (i.e., in skill-based games). Additional research is needed to better understand the mechanism linking reported gambling frequency to probability assessment accuracy.

Gambling as a youth is a risk factor for experiencing gambling-related harm as an adult. Most youth gambling research focuses on illegal engagement with age-restricted products, but youth can also gamble legally, by for example betting with friends, or via coin pusher and crane grab machines. Research has associated recollected rates of usage of these machines as a child with adult gambling participation and problems, but only in the UK and Australia, and has not tested for robustness to subjective confidence. The present study conceptually replicated these prior studies by investigating the association between recollected childhood use of coin push and crane grab machines, and adult gambling behavior, in a young adult USA sample. Participants rated their subjective confidence to test if individual differences in recollection biases provided a better account for any observed associations. Results found high recollected engagement rates for both coin pusher (87.2%) and crane grab machines (97.0%), and 5 of the 6 tested associations between youth machine usage and adult gambling engagement and problems were significant and in the hypothesized direction. Rates of subjective confidence were on average high (83.3 and 89.2 on a 0 to 100 scale), and generally did not interact with participants' recollected rates of machine use. These findings extend prior research on potential public health concerns around children's legal engagement with coin pusher and crane grab machines to a new country, the USA.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between gambling behavior, self-confidence, and psychological resilience levels among university students. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the relationship between gambling behavior and socio-demographic variables. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between April and June 2023. The research employed a questionnaire, the Brief Psychological Resilience Scale, the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), and the Self-Confidence Scale. The study was carried out online, reaching 229 students through Google Forms. According to the SOGS scores, 4.8% of the students are at risk of gambling addiction. Male students have statistically significantly higher SOGS scores than female students. The SOGS score is significantly higher in working students, smokers, and alcohol drinkers (p < 0.05). No statistically significant relationship was found between the students' SOGS scores and the self- confidence scale (p = 0.637) and the brief resilience scale (p = 0.675). It is thought that training should be given to risky groups in order to prevent gambling behavior. In addition, it is thought that supporting university students to be active in different arts and sports fields may have a positive effect on preventing and reducing addictions.

Positive illusions and winning exposure are key factors leading to problem lottery gambling, but few studies have examined the relationships between them. 402 Chinese lottery gamblers was conducted with the Winning Exposure Questionnaire, the Positive illusion Questionnaire, the Winning Experience Questionnaire, and the Social and Economic Status Questionnaire to investigate the relationship between winning exposure and positive illusions as well as the moderating role of winning experience and socioeconomic status. The results showed that winning exposure can significantly and positively predict the positive illusions (optimism bias, better than average bias, and illusion of control) of lottery gamblers. The highest winning amount and subjective socioeconomic status significantly moderated the relationship between winning exposure and optimism bias. That was to say, for lottery gamblers with smaller maximum winning amount and lower subjective socioeconomic status, the association between winning exposure and optimism bias was stronger. Furthermore, the moderating effect of highest winning amount in the relationship between winning exposure and better than average bias, and the moderating effects of occupational status and subjective socioeconomic status in the relationship between winning exposure and illusion of control were marginally significant.

Early risk factors for gambling participation (GP) and substance use (SU) in adolescents have usually been studied separately, although these disorders were integrated into the same clinical category over a decade ago. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the early individual, parental, familial and social risk factors associated with developmental patterns of adolescent GP and SU in a population-representative cohort (N = 1594, 51.2% boys). Using a person-centered strategy and multiple assessments from age 12 to 17, six developmental patterns describing joint GP and SU courses were revealed. Non-substance users/non-gamblers served as the reference class in an integrated longitudinal-multivariate analysis framework examining 15 distinct risk factors. Results showed that a core of risk factors were common to all trajectory-classes of substance users with or without GP. For a similar level of SU, most of the risk factors associated with non-gambling users also affected their gambling peers. However, additional risk factors were specifically related to GP. Thus, substance users who also gamble were affected by a greater number of risk factors than non-gambling substance users. Findings are consistent with a developmental syndrome of addiction, which posits a shared etiology between different expressions of addiction as well as differences in risk factors that lead to distinct trajectories of addictive behaviors. They highlight the importance of considering both GP and SU for a comprehensive assessment of adolescents' level of risk with regard to addictive behaviors.

Lifetime gambling activities and behaviors are considered as potentially addictive behaviors that may impact a student's performance. According to a survey conducted in Tanzanian's higher training institutions, for example, 37.2% of sports gamblers were students. This study employed an institutional-based cross-sectional survey in a quantitative research approach to study 374 randomly sampled undergraduate students in higher training institutions in Dodoma region, Tanzania from June to July 2023. Students reported their attitudes, practices, and drivers of gambling activities through interviewer-administered structured questionnaires adopted from previous studies. Results indicate that 374 of 583 potential participants were eligible and surveyed for the study with 100% response rate. Participants' mean age was 24 years ± 2.79 of which, few of them (34%) had age ranging between 25 and 42 years. Male participants accounted for 69.8% (n = 261). 59.1% of the study participants believed that gambling activities were okay to them of which 47.3% of them were lifetime gamblers; 19.2% moderate-risk lifetime gamblers and 2.5% low-risk lifetime gamblers respectively. Online sports betting (44.5%), coin pusher (29.4%), poll tables (8.0%), and slot machines (6.9%) were the most preferred types of gambling games among students. Age between 17 and 24 years; levels three and four classes, being male; living off-campus; drug abuse; mobile smartphone ownership; exposure to social media platforms and high attitude towards gambling activities were associated significantly with undergraduate students' gambling practices (p < 0.05). Large-scale institutional-based educational programs about the financial and academic ramifications of gambling among students during their studies may be able to moderate their gambling behaviors.

The propensity for individuals to experience problem gambling (PG) varies depending on their motivation to gamble. The present meta-analysis assessed the effect sizes associated with various gambling motives identified in representative population samples. Studies were sourced through PsycINFO, PudMed, and databases maintained by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute and the Greo Evidence Insights. Quantitative studies and technical studies were included if they reported on gambling motivation as a correlate of PG; were published in English, French, or Spanish; used valid and reliable measures PG as an outcome variable; and targeted the general adult population. A random effects meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled odds ratios. A total of 26 studies were included from 17 jurisdictions, with most studies conducted in Canadian provinces (k = 17) or specific states of the United States (k = 7). Number of participants varied, depending on the gambling motivation analyzed, and ranged from 2,835 to 51,685. Fourteen unique motives were identified with odds ratios ranging from 0.53 (95% CI, 0.45, 0.63) for gambling for charity to 6.20 (95% CI, 3.83, 10.05) for the motive "to be alone", with high study heterogeneity being observed for many gambling motives, given variability in important study characteristics. The results generally indicate that coping motives were associated with large effect sizes, enhancement motives with medium effect sizes, and all other motives with small or nil effects. Coping motives are on par with other strong risk factors such as participation in online gambling or electronic gaming machines, and are therefore important elements to consider when screening for PG or designing public health messages.

Awareness and utilization of health interventions can be influenced by sociodemographic factors. These factors play a role in information processing, particularly regarding health messaging. The aim of this study is to analyze how different sociodemographic factors and gambling behaviors are associated with awareness of a (Swedish) gambling self-exclusion register. The study used data from the Swedish longitudinal gambling study (Swelogs) and analyzed n = 6720 participants from a stratified random sample of the Swedish population aged 18-84 years. Logistic regressions were conducted to analyze associations between sociodemographic characteristics, gambling behavior and awareness. Males with middle (OR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.32-2.19) and high income (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.19-2.09) and females with high (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.03-1.76) and middle-level education (OR = 1.35, CI = 1.04-1.76), had higher awareness of Spelpaus.se. Online gamblers with problematic gambling behavior were three times (OR = 3.69, 95% CI = 2.15-6.37) more likely to be aware than non-gamblers. Online gamblers born in Sweden were twice (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.19-3.19) as likely to be aware compared to those born outside of Europe. Males with high level of awareness had higher PGSI scores compared to women. Education could increase awareness of potential health risks and opportunities for intervention, particularly among women. Future interventions should be tailored to cater to the specific needs of individuals with lower levels of awareness, to facilitate enhancing their awareness and ultimately promoting a more equitable utilization of self-exclusion measures.

Most epidemiological surveys focus on adult gambling behaviors related to traditional gambling forms, while studies on novel forms often focus on loot boxes and cryptocurrency trading individually. This study examines the co-ocurrence of emergent gambling and gambling-like practices, analyzing the demographic and psychological characteristics of involved gamblers. A cross-sectional study surveyed 1429 Spanish individuals aged 18-65, using a web-based questionnaire. The survey assessed participation in 19 gambling (e.g., lotteries, sports betting) and gambling-like activities (e.g., trading of cryptocurrencies and other assets, buying loot-boxes), along with sociodemographic and substance use. Problem gambling (PGSI), Impulsivity (UPPS-P), and cognitive distortions (Labrador's cognitive distortions scale) were also assessed. Participants who gambled over the past year (n = 921) were classified into four groups: traditional gambling (TG) only (64.5%, n = 594), TG with trading activities (27.5%, n = 253), TG with gambling withing video games or streaming platforms (2.5%, n = 23), and TG with both trading and video gambling (5.5%, n = 51). Most gamblers engaged exclusively in traditional formats, but 35.5% also participated in novel gambling forms. Those involved in both trading and video gambling were generally younger, male, with higher levels of impulsivity and gambling-related cognitive distortions compared to TG-only gamblers (p < 0.001). This group also exhibited higher rates of problem gambling and substance use (p < 0.001). This study emphasize the importance of including emerging gambling activities, which are particularly prevalent among high-risk gamblers, in epidemiological surveys. Identifying new gambling patterns and associated risk factors could help optimize public policies and develop more effective regulatory and prevention strategies.