Relations Among Gambling Behavior, Associated Problems, Game Type, and Risk Factors in a Rural, African American, Adolescent Sample.

Problem gambling is a rising concern among adolescent populations; youth gamble more frequently than adults, and those who gamble are more susceptible than adults to maladaptive outcomes. Research shows that gambling problems are exacerbated among minorities, despite lower rates of gambling frequency. Minority youth are at especially high risk for problematic gambling outcomes, though they have not been widely studied. The objectives of this study were to (a) investigate gambling frequency and rates of associated problems among rural, African American youth, (b) examine risk factors associated with gambling problems, and (c) explore preferences for game type. Hypotheses were tested with survey data from 270 African American youth from rural communities in Georgia, ages 14-17. Past-year gambling prevalence was 38% (48% of males and 28% of females), and 30% of those who gambled (11% of the total sample) reported at least one problem behavior associated with gambling. Confirmatory factor analysis established a distinction between games of skill versus luck. Gambling problems were associated with skill games, and youth played skill games more than luck games. Substance use and anger scores predicted gambling frequency, and gambling frequency predicted gambling problems. Depression scores provided no predictive utility. Poverty status was negatively associated with skill gambling, and there was no association between poverty status and luck gambling. Males gambled more frequently, had more gambling problems, and were more likely to engage in skill gambling relative to females.

Social density of gambling and its association with gambling problems: an initial investigation.

The role of social factors in pathological gambling has received relatively little systematic research. The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between a target individual's gambling behavior and the gambling behavior among that individual's parents, siblings and five closest friends. The specific aims were, first, to apply a novel brief assessment to study the social density of factors relating to pathological gambling; second, to replicate previously observed findings involving the social aggregation of alcohol and tobacco use; and third, to examine social density findings among the three domains. Participants were 128 frequent gamblers from the Athens, Georgia area, 79.7 % male with a mean age of 34.2 (SD = 11.7). Participants were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity for gambling severity, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for alcohol abuse, the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence for tobacco use, and the novel Brief Social Density of Gambling, Alcohol, and Tobacco Assessment. Significant relationships were observed between participants' and friends' activity within all domains: gambling (ps = .001), alcohol use (p < .001) and tobacco use (p < .001). Relationships with friends' activity across domains were less strong. Distinct patterns of associations with parents and siblings were not observed. Thus, social aggregation was observed across the three domains of potentially addictive behaviors, generally with specificity within domains and with friends, not biological relatives. Methodological considerations and potential applications of these findings are discussed.

The relationship between pathological gambling and sensation seeking: the role of subscale scores.

Research investigating the relationship between gambling and sensation seeking has yet to establish conclusively whether pathological gamblers (PGs) are more or less sensation seeking than nonpathological gamblers (NPGs). Sensation seeking is usually measured with the Zuckerman et al. (J Consult Clin Psychol 46:139-149, 1978) SS Scale form V (SSS-V). Whereas previous studies relied on the SSS-V total score, the current study uses two samples to demonstrate the importance of the SSS-V subscales, which include Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TA), Experience Seeking (ES), Disinhibition (DS), and Boredom Susceptibility (BS). In two samples, strong intrascale correlations between DS and BS, and between TA and ES, suggest that certain subscales reflect similar underlying characteristics. In both samples PGs displayed higher scores than NPGs on the DS and BS subscales, with mean differences in Sample 2 reaching significant levels for both DS and BS. Results support the notion that the SSS-V can be divided into concepts reflecting actual behavior, based on the DS and BS subscales, and hypothetical behavior, based on the TA and ES subscales. Furthermore, PGs appear to have a preference for the more behavioral subscales while NPGs show a preference for the more hypothetical subscales. Reasons for the subscale divisions and preferences are discussed.

Comparing the utility of a modified Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity (DIGS) with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) as a research screen in college students.

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) is compared in reliability to a modified version of the Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity (DIGS-S) for use as a pathological gambling (PG) screen in college students. Seventy-two undergraduates (83.3% male, mean age of 18.8) from the University of Georgia completed the measures, completing a longitudinal design with 3 sessions over a 2-month time period. The DIGS-S and the SOGS demonstrated good internal consistency over the 3 sessions, with Cronbach's Alphas ranging from 0.73 to 0.89, as well as strong concurrent validity, with correlations of .50 to .80 (Ps < .001) between the 2 measures across the 3 sessions. Both Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability were higher with the DIGS-S than the SOGS. Given this, and given that the DIGS directly measures symptoms of pathological gambling, future research could benefit from the use of the DIGS-S as a PG screening tool in a college-aged sample.

Examining the relations among narcissism, impulsivity, and self-defeating behaviors.

A recent meta-analysis (S. Vazire & D. C. Funder, 2006) suggested that narcissism and impulsivity are related and that impulsivity partially accounts for the relation between narcissism and self-defeating behaviors (SDB). This research examines these hypotheses in two studies and tests a competing hypothesis that Extraversion and Agreeableness account for this relation. In Study 1, we examined the relations among narcissism, impulsivity, and aggression. Both narcissism and impulsivity predicted aggression, but impulsivity did not mediate the narcissism-aggression relation. In Study 2, narcissism was related to a measure of SDB and manifested divergent relations with a range of impulsivity traits from three measures. None of the impulsivity models accounted for the narcissism-SDB relation, although there were unique mediating paths for traits related to sensation and fun seeking. The domains of Extraversion and low Agreeableness successfully mediated the entire narcissism-SDB relation. We address the discrepancy between the current and meta-analytic findings.

Frequent card playing and pathological gambling: the utility of the Georgia Gambling Task and Iowa Gambling Task for predicting pathology.

The current investigation examined performance on two laboratory-based gambling tasks, the Georgia Gambling Task (GGT; Goodie, 2003. The effects of control on betting: Paradoxical betting on items of high confidence with low value. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 598-610) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994. Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex. Cognition, 50, 7-15), as well as self-reported markers of gambling pathology using the Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity (DIGS; Winters, Specker, & Stinchfield, 2002. The downside: Problem and pathological gambling (pp. 143-148). Reno, NV: University of Nevada, Reno) among a sample of undergraduate students who are frequent card players. Two hundred twenty-one participants (55 female and 166 male; mean age 19.21 years) who self-classified as playing cards at least once per month completed these measures. Performance on GGT and IGT systematically related to gambling-related pathology in several ways. Overconfidence and bet acceptance on the GGT, and myopic focus on reward on the IGT, predicted gambling related pathology. GGT and IGT performance correlated with each other, but both contributed independently to predicting gambling pathology. Card playing frequency predicted gambling pathology but not GGT or IGT performance. Discussion focuses on the role of biases of judgment and risky decision making in pathological gambling.

A cognitive neuroscience approach to studying the role of overconfidence in problem gambling.

Research on the neural correlates of decision making in gambling tasks may be informative for understanding problem gambling. The present study explored confidence and overconfidence using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure brain activity during a judgment task. Nineteen undergraduates who self-identified as frequent gamblers (average age 19.7 years; 5 females, 14 males) participated in this study. Participants first completed the DIGS (Winters, Specker & Stinchfield, 2002), a measure of gambling pathology. They then engaged in a behavioral task of confidence assessment, wherein they answered two-alternative trivia questions and estimated the probability that each answer was correct. In a subsequent MEG task, they viewed the questions and a target answer, and indicated with a button press whether the target matched the correct answer. Confidence was directly related to activity in the right prefrontal cortex. Matching and mismatching targets were associated with activity in the medial occipital cortex and left supramarginal gyrus, respectively. An interaction of pathology and match/mismatch was observed in the right inferior occipital-temporal junction region, showing more activity following a mismatch in non-problem gamblers, but not in problem gamblers. Implications of the results for understanding of top-down modulation and attentional systems are discussed in relation to gambling behavior.

Examining DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling: psychometric properties and evidence from cognitive biases.

We examined the DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling as assessed with the DSM-IV-based Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity (DIGS; Winters, Specker, & Stinchfield, 2002). We first analyzed the psychometric properties of the DIGS, and then assessed the extent to which performance on two judgment and decision-making tasks, the Georgia Gambling Task (Goodie, 2003) and the Iowa Gambling Task (Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994), related to higher reports of gambling pathology. In a sample of frequent gamblers, we found strong psychometric support for the DSM-IV conception of pathological gambling as measured by the DIGS, predictive relationships between DIGS scores and all cognitive performance measures, and significant differences in performance measures between individuals with and without pathological gambling. Analyses using suggested revisions to the pathological gambling threshold (Stinchfield, 2003) revealed that individuals meeting four of the DSM-IV criteria aligned significantly more with pathological gamblers than with non-pathological gamblers, supporting the suggested change in the cutoff score from five to four symptoms. Discussion focuses on the validity of the DSM-IV criteria as assessed by the DIGS and the role of cognitive biases in pathological gambling.

Dispositional Mindfulness as a Predictor of the Severity of Gambling Outcomes.

Two studies were conducted to test and explain the relation of mindfulness to the severity of gambling outcomes among frequent gamblers. In both studies, dispositional mindfulness related to less severe gambling outcomes as measured by a DSM-IV-based screen for pathological gambling, even after controlling for gambling frequency and dispositional self-control. Study 2 extended this finding in showing that the association between mindfulness and lower pathological gambling was partially mediated by better performance on two risk-taking tasks that capture overconfidence, risky bet acceptance, and myopic focus on reward. These studies suggest a role for mindfulness in lessening the severity of gambling problems and making adaptive decisions, especially in risk-relevant contexts.

The role of perceived control and overconfidence in pathological gambling.

Two studies sought to determine whether perceived control has different effects on confidence assessment and betting decisions among pathological and problem gamblers than among non-problem gamblers. In Study 1, 200 college students who were frequent gamblers (80 female and 120 male, median age 20) completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and then engaged in a task in which they answered questions, assessed confidence in each answer, and considered bets on their answers that were fair if they were well-calibrated, but unfavorable if they were overconfident. Probable pathological and problem gamblers earned significantly fewer points than non-problem gamblers. This was due to greater overconfidence among pathological and problem gamblers, which led to systematically less favorable bets. In Study 2, using 384 participants (105 female and 279 male, median age 20), control was independently manipulated and bets were constructed to make point value independent of overconfidence. Problem and pathological gamblers showed both greater overconfidence and greater bet acceptance. They were less affected by control in their betting decisions than non-problem gamblers, but more affected in the slope of their betting function. It is concluded that pathological and problem gamblers process information about confidence and control differently from non-problem gamblers.

Predicting prescription drug misuse in college students' social networks.

BACKGROUND: Prescription drugs, such as stimulants, opioid analgesics, anxiolytics, and sedatives, are frequently being used without a physician's prescription by college students, resulting in a rising epidemic. The literature has not yet examined the impact of one's social network in the use of these drugs, nor the co-occurrence of multiple prescription drugs. The current study investigated predictors of non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD), in addition to the prevalence of NMUPD in college students' social networks. METHODS: 279 undergraduates from a large southeastern university were recruited to participate in the study. Logistic regressions were conducted to examine the predictors of the respondent misusing prescription drugs in the past 12 months. RESULTS: The number of close friends who misused prescription drugs predicted the respondent misusing prescription drugs in the past year (p<.05), after controlling for the respondent's own substance use. The misuse of prescription drugs by college students and their close friends is widespread: approximately one-fourth of the sample used prescription drugs without a physician's prescription, and 30% of the sample had at least one close friend who misused prescription drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Prescription drug misuse is prevalent in college students' social networks, and more so among those who themselves misuse prescription drugs, suggesting the need for prevention specialists to provide younger adults with information regarding the detrimental consequences of prescription drug misuse for themselves and their friends.

A social network analysis approach to alcohol use and co-occurring addictive behavior in young adults.

INTRODUCTION: The current study applied egocentric social network analysis (SNA) to investigate the prevalence of addictive behavior and co-occurring substance use in college students' networks. Specifically, we examined individuals' perceptions of the frequency of network members' co-occurring addictive behavior and investigated whether co-occurring addictive behavior is spread evenly throughout networks or is more localized in clusters. We also examined differences in network composition between individuals with varying levels of alcohol use. METHOD: The study utilized an egocentric SNA approach in which respondents ("egos") enumerated 30 of their closest friends, family members, co-workers, and significant others ("alters") and the relations among alters listed. Participants were 281 undergraduates at a large university in the Southeastern United States. RESULTS: Robust associations were observed among the frequencies of gambling, smoking, drinking, and using marijuana by network members. We also found that alters tended to cluster together into two distinct groups: one cluster moderate-to-high on co-occurring addictive behavior and the other low on co-occurring addictive behavior. Lastly, significant differences were present when examining egos' perceptions of alters' substance use between the networks of at-risk, light, and nondrinkers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide empirical evidence of distinct clustering of addictive behavior among young adults and suggest the promise of social network-based interventions for this cohort.

The effects of control on betting: paradoxical betting on items of high confidence with low value.

Traditional decision theories emphasize the probabilities and values of possible outcomes, but decisions may also be influenced by perceived control, with control defined as probability alterability. In 3 experiments, participants were offered bets on their own answers to general knowledge questions, bets that are characterized by control. The bets were fair if participants' reported confidence was well calibrated, positively valued if participants were underconfident, but unfavorable when participants were overconfident. Bet acceptance was a steep, linear, increasing function of confidence that is termed paradoxical betting. This pattern was generally contrary to the value of bets (considered either as average outcome or as subjective utility) and was steeper in slope than matched bets on apparently random events in Experiment 3. The author argues that control is a fundamental determinant of decision making that is readily incorporated in some existing models of decision weighting.

Time-pressure effects on performance in a base-rate task.

Researchers assume that time pressure impairs performance in decision tasks by invoking heuristic processes. In the present study, the authors inquired (a) whether it was possible in some cases for time pressure to improve performance or to alter it without impairing it, and (b) whether the heuristic invoked by base-rate neglect under direct experience can be identified. They used a probability-learning design in 2 experiments, and they measured the choice proportions after each of 2 possible cues in each experiment. In 1 comparison, time pressure increased predictions of the more likely outcome, which improved performance. In 2 comparisons, time pressure changed the choice proportions without affecting performance. In a 4th comparison, time pressure hindered performance. The choice proportions were consistent with heuristic processing that is based on cue matching rather than on cue accuracy, base rates, or posterior probabilities.

Controlling for causally relevant third variables.

In 3 experiments, the authors tested the conditions under which 3rd variables are controlled for in making causal judgments. The authors hypothesized that 3rd variables are controlled for when the 3rd variables are themselves perceived as causal. In Experiment 1, the participants predicted test performance after seeing information about wearing a lucky garment, taking a test-preparation course, and staying up late. The course (perceived as more causally relevant) was controlled for more than was the garment (perceived as less causally relevant) in assessing the effectiveness of staying up late. In Experiments 2 and 3, to obviate the many alternative accounts that arise from the realistic cover story of Experiment 1, participants predicted flowers' blooming after the presentation or nonpresentation of liquids. When one liquid was trained as causal, it was controlled for more in judging another liquid than when it was trained as neutral. Overall, stimuli perceived as causal were controlled for more when judging other stimuli. The authors concluded that the effect of perceived causal relevance on causal conditionalizing is real and normatively reasonable.

Descriptive and injunctive social norms' interactive role in gambling behavior.

Social norms have a fundamental impact on behavior, yet little research has examined social norms regarding gambling and no research has examined possible interaction effects. The current study examined the interaction between perceived approval of gambling by others (i.e., injunctive norms) and perceived prevalence of gambling by others (i.e., descriptive norms) on the respondent's gambling frequency and problems, in a sample of relatively frequent gamblers. The current study examined 2 distinct reference groups: 1 close in proximity (i.e., family and friends) and 1 distally located (i.e., other students). The sample consisted of 252 undergraduates who gambled at least twice a month. Two interactions were observed on gambling frequency based on the proximity of the reference groups; however, only descriptive norms significantly predicted gambling problems. When the reference group was closer in proximity, the positive relationship between perceptions of family and friends' gambling frequency and the individual's own gambling was stronger for individuals who believed that their friends and family members highly approved of gambling. When the reference group was distally located, differences in respondents' gambling frequency emerged only in contexts in which they perceived other students to gamble infrequently. Specifically, when respondents perceived that other students gambled infrequently and disapproved of gambling, respondents gambled the most frequently. The results suggest that individuals are influenced by their perceptions of others' attitudes and behaviors, regardless of proximity, and that these perceptions of others' behavior are strongly associated with gambling problems.

Multidimensional examination of impulsivity in relation to disordered gambling.

Impulsivity has been consistently associated with pathological gambling (PG), but the diversity of definitions and measures of impulsivity has led to ambiguity with regard to which indices are independently relevant. Toward clarifying this relationship, the current study examined indices from an array of commonly used impulsivity measures in relation to PG severity in an adult community sample of frequent gamblers (N = 353). These included both survey assessments and behavioral tasks. Using a factor analytic approach, 4 latent factors were identified among 19 indices and were designated reward sensitivity, punishment sensitivity, delay discounting, and cognitive impulsivity. All 4 latent variables were positively and independently related to PG severity, albeit at a trend level for cognitive impulsivity in a combined model. These findings reveal 4 generally independent domains of impulsivity that are related to PG severity, clarify which assessment measures aggregate in each domain, and illustrate the importance of measurement specificity in studying impulsivity in relation to PG and other psychiatric disorders.

An examination of the correlates of fearless dominance and self-centered impulsivity among high-frequency gamblers.

The Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) is a commonly used assessment of psychopathy. Questions have been raised, however, regarding the validity of its Fearless Dominance (FD) factor. In the current study, the correlations manifested by FD and Self-centered Impulsivity (ScI) in relation to external criteria were examined in a sample of gamblers. Two key hypotheses were also tested: (a) does FD perform differently when paired with high scores on ScI, and (b) does FD serve as an index of narcissism. As expected, FD and ScI manifested a divergent pattern of correlations such that only ScI was associated with psychopathology or impairment. FD's relations with the external criteria were not generally moderated by scores on ScI. FD was significantly correlated with narcissism, but the two differed such that only narcissism was associated with any degree of maladaptivity. It remains unclear whether FD should be considered a core component of psychopathy.

Measuring cognitive distortions in pathological gambling: review and meta-analyses.

There is broad agreement that cognitive distortions are an integral component of the development, maintenance, and treatment of pathological gambling. There is no authoritative catalog of the distortions that are observed more frequently in pathological gamblers than in others, but several instruments have been successfully developed that measure various distortions of interest, which are reviewed. All of the prominent instruments include measures of the illusion of control (perceiving more personal control over events than is warranted), and almost all include measures of gambler's fallacy (the belief that after a string of one event, such as a coin landing heads, an alternative event, such as the coin landing tails, becomes more likely). Beyond these two errors, there is scant consensus on relevant errors, and a wide variety has been studied. Meta-analyses were conducted on differences between PGs and non-PGs in scores on six published instruments that were developed to measure distortions in gamblers. All instruments reveal large effects using Hedge's g statistic, suggesting that the impact of distortions on PG is robust. Several subscales, assigned diverse names by scale authors, can be viewed as reflecting common distortions. Those judged to assess gambler's fallacy show evidence of more robust effects sizes than those that assess illusion of control. It is recommended that future research focus more specifically on the impact of particular distortions on gambling disorders.

Personality correlates of pathological gambling derived from Big Three and Big Five personality models.

Personality traits have proved to be consistent and important factors in a variety of externalizing behaviors including addiction, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Given the comorbidity of these behaviors with pathological gambling (PG), it is important to test the degree to which PG shares these trait correlates. In a large community sample of regular gamblers (N=354; 111 with diagnoses of pathological gambling), the relations between measures of two major models of personality - Big Three and Big Five - were examined in relation to PG symptoms derived from a semi-structured diagnostic interview. Across measures, traits related to the experience of strong negative emotions were the most consistent correlates of PG, regardless of whether they were analyzed using bivariate or multivariate analyses. In several instances, however, the relations between personality and PG were moderated by demographic variable such as gender, race, and age. It will be important for future empirical work of this nature to pay closer attention to potentially important moderators of these relations.