Subramaniam Mythily, Chong Siow Ann, Browning Colette, Thomas Shane
Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore.
Royal District Nursing Service Limited, Melbourne, Australia.
PLoS One. 2017 May 18;12(5):e0178036. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178036. eCollection 2017.
The study aims to describe the construct of cognitive distortions based on the narratives of older adult gamblers (aged 60 years and above) in Singapore.
Singapore residents (citizens or permanent residents) aged 60 years and above, who were current or past regular gamblers were included in the study. Participants were recruited using a combination of venue based approach, referrals from service providers as well as by snowball sampling. In all, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with older adult gamblers. The six-step thematic network analysis methodology was adopted for data analysis.
The mean age of the participants was 66.2 years. The majority were male (n = 18), of Chinese ethnicity (n = 16), with a mean age of gambling initiation at 24.5 years. Among older adult gamblers, cognitive distortions emerged as a significant global theme comprising three organizing themes-illusion of control, probability control and interpretive control. The organizing themes comprised nine basic themes: perception of gambling as a skill, near miss, concept of luck, superstitious beliefs, entrapment, gambler's fallacy, chasing wins, chasing losses, and beliefs that wins are more than losses.
Cognitive distortions were endorsed by all gamblers in the current study and were shown to play a role in both maintaining and escalating the gambling behaviour. While the surface characteristics of the distortions had a culture-specific appearance, the deeper characteristics of the distortions may in fact be more universal than previously thought. Future research must include longitudinal studies to understand causal relationships between cognitive distortions and gambling as well as the role of culture-specific distortions both in the maintenance and treatment of the disorder.
本研究旨在根据新加坡老年赌徒（60岁及以上）的叙述来描述认知扭曲的结构。
本研究纳入了60岁及以上的新加坡居民（公民或永久居民），他们是当前或过去的经常赌博者。采用基于场所的方法、服务提供者的转介以及滚雪球抽样相结合的方式招募参与者。总共对老年赌徒进行了25次深入访谈。数据分析采用六步主题网络分析方法。
参与者的平均年龄为66.2岁。大多数为男性（n = 18），华裔（n = 16），开始赌博的平均年龄为24.5岁。在老年赌徒中，认知扭曲成为一个重要的总体主题，包括三个组织主题——控制错觉、概率控制和解释控制。这些组织主题包含九个基本主题：将赌博视为一种技能的认知、差点赢、运气概念、迷信信念、陷入困境、赌徒谬误、追逐赢、追逐输以及认为赢多于输的信念。
本研究中的所有赌徒都认可认知扭曲，并且显示其在维持和加剧赌博行为中都起作用。虽然这些扭曲的表面特征具有特定文化的表象，但实际上这些扭曲的深层特征可能比以前认为的更具普遍性。未来的研究必须包括纵向研究，以了解认知扭曲与赌博之间的因果关系，以及特定文化的扭曲在该疾病的维持和治疗中的作用。
