Ciccarelli Maria, Pizzini Barbara, Cosenza Marina, D'Olimpio Francesca, Griffiths Mark D, Nigro Giovanna
Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy.
Law Department, Giustino Fortunato University, Benevento, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 Nov 13;15:1418339. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1418339. eCollection 2024.
Despite the increasing proportion of older-aged individuals suffering from problematic gambling, research on gambling among this specific age cohort is still in its infancy. Chasing is a pathognomonic feature of disordered gambling and is considered one of the key risk factors in the transition from recreational to disordered gambling. Despite the increased research on chasing over the past decade, no previous study has ever examined the psychological determinants of chasing behavior among old-aged gamblers. Given the importance of chasing in facilitating and maintaining problem gambling, and the paucity of research examining gambling among older individuals, the present study is the first to empirically investigate the joint role of chasing behavior, negative affectivity, and mentalizing among older-aged gamblers.
The sample comprised 116 older-aged gamblers who were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) to assess gambling severity, psychological distress, and mentalizing, respectively. Participants also performed the ChasIT, a computerized task that assesses chasing behavior, in which participants were randomly assigned to three different experimental conditions: loss, control, and win.
No effect of the experimental conditions of ChasIT on chasing behavior was observed. Regression analyses indicated that heightened levels of gambling severity and lower levels of certainty about mental states (i.e., hypermentalizing) predicted both the decision to chase and chasing frequency. Along with problem gambling and hypermentalizing, chasing frequency was also predicted by high levels of depression.
The present study demonstrated the association between disordered gambling, depression, and hypermentalizing in chasing behavior among older-aged gamblers. The findings make an important contribution to providing insight regarding variables that are associated with chasing among older-aged gamblers, one of the least represented populations of gamblers in the literature. The results suggest that specific training on mentalizing abilities could help gamblers to reflect on their own behaviors in terms of mental states, rather than following the impulse to gamble in order to ameliorate poor mood.
尽管患有问题赌博的老年人比例不断增加，但针对这一特定年龄组赌博行为的研究仍处于起步阶段。追逐是无序赌博的一个特征性表现，被认为是从娱乐性赌博转变为无序赌博的关键风险因素之一。尽管在过去十年中对追逐行为的研究有所增加，但此前从未有研究考察过老年赌徒追逐行为的心理决定因素。鉴于追逐行为在促成和维持问题赌博方面的重要性，以及针对老年人赌博行为研究的匮乏，本研究首次实证调查了老年赌徒的追逐行为、消极情感性和心理化的联合作用。
样本包括116名老年赌徒，他们分别接受了南橡树赌博筛查量表（SOGS）、抑郁焦虑压力量表（DASS-21）和反思功能问卷（RFQ - 8），以评估赌博严重程度、心理困扰和心理化水平。参与者还完成了ChasIT，这是一项评估追逐行为的计算机化任务，参与者被随机分配到三种不同的实验条件：输、控制和赢。
未观察到ChasIT实验条件对追逐行为有影响。回归分析表明，赌博严重程度的提高和心理状态确定性的降低（即过度心理化）既预测了追逐的决定，也预测了追逐频率。除了问题赌博和过度心理化外，高抑郁水平也预测了追逐频率。
本研究证明了老年赌徒在追逐行为中无序赌博、抑郁和过度心理化之间的关联。这些发现为了解与老年赌徒追逐行为相关的变量提供了重要见解，而老年赌徒是文献中代表性最少的赌博人群之一。结果表明，针对心理化能力的特定训练可以帮助赌徒从心理状态角度反思自己的行为，而不是为了改善不良情绪而冲动赌博。
