Problem Gambling Research & Treatment Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health (CERSH), Rural Health Academic Centre, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Gerontologist. 2014 Dec;54(6):1035-48. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnt107. Epub 2013 Oct 4.
To develop a grounded theory on how older adults, who may not have previously experienced gambling issues, come to develop gambling problems in later life.
Through semistructured in-depth interviews with 31 adults aged 56-85, routes that led the current sample of older adults to develop late-life gambling problems were identified and mapped into coherent pathways using a constructivist grounded theory methodology.
Three main pathways to late-life problematic gambling were identified, all linked with a common theme of isolation: a grief pathway associated with unresolved losses; a habit pathway associated with habituation to gambling; and a dormant pathway marked by preexisting behavioral excess or impulsivity. Overall, unresolved losses and/or mismanagement of life's stresses were found to be the most significant predictors of late-life problematic gambling.
As late-life problem gambling appears to predominantly signify late-life emotional distress and an attempt to deal with this distress using gambling as an escape, it is crucial for problem gambling prevention programs to raise awareness about the processes of loss and grief and provide ideas about constructive loss management. In addition, community-level recreational and social opportunities to combat isolation are identified.
旨在构建一个关于老年人如何在晚年出现赌博问题的理论，这些老年人以前可能没有经历过赌博问题。
通过对 31 名 56-85 岁成年人的半结构化深入访谈，确定了导致当前老年样本出现晚年赌博问题的途径，并使用建构主义扎根理论方法将这些途径映射到连贯的路径中。
确定了三种导致晚年赌博问题的主要途径，都与隔离的共同主题有关：与未解决的损失有关的悲伤途径；与对赌博习惯有关的习惯途径；以及以预先存在的行为过度或冲动为特征的休眠途径。总的来说，未解决的损失和/或生活压力管理不善被发现是晚年出现赌博问题的最重要预测因素。
由于晚年出现赌博问题似乎主要代表晚年的情绪困扰，以及试图通过赌博作为逃避来应对这种困扰，因此预防赌博问题的计划必须提高对损失和悲伤过程的认识，并提供有关建设性损失管理的想法。此外，还确定了社区层面的娱乐和社交机会，以对抗隔离。
