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Proactive coping and gambling disorder among young men.
Pawel Sleczka1, Barbara Braun1, Bettina Grüne1
11 IFT Institut für Therapieforschung , München, Germany.
Journal of Behavioral Addictions
|November 15, 2016
Summary
Young men with gambling problems struggle with stress management, showing lower proactive coping skills. Enhancing preventive coping strategies can mitigate gambling disorder risks, even with good social support.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Male sex, young age, and frequent gambling are identified risk factors for gambling disorder (GD).
- Stress can trigger gambling behavior, while effective stress coping may counteract gambling problems.
- Proactive Coping Theory offers a framework for developing preventive and treatment measures for GD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate various aspects of proactive coping (PC) in young male gamblers.
- To understand the relationship between proactive coping and gambling problems in this demographic.
Main Methods:
- Recruitment of young men in Bavaria via citizen registry and Facebook.
- Screening for frequent gambling and/or related problems.
- Administration of baseline questionnaires assessing gambling problems, PC, impulsiveness, social support, and psychological distress.
Main Results:
- Gambling problems correlated with reduced preventive coping and adaptive reaction delay, even after controlling for impulsiveness and distress.
- Preventive coping moderated the link between social support and gambling problems.
- Young men with GD exhibited less stressor prevention and more hasty reactions.
Conclusions:
- Young men with gambling problems demonstrate deficits in proactive coping, particularly in preventing stressors and managing reactions.
- Social support's protective effect against GD is contingent on individuals' preventive coping abilities.
- Proactive coping is a modifiable construct valuable for targeted prevention and treatment of gambling disorder.
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