How are illness representations of gambling disorder associated with gambling behaviors? A latent profile analysis

Gambling disorder (GD) is a behavioral addiction that causes serious harm to individuals' mental health and social functioning. This study aimed to explore whether gamblers' illness representations (IR) for GD are related to disordered and/or controlled patterns of gambling under the framework of commonsense model of self-regulation (CSM). Based on CSM, different facets of IR do not exist in isolation but together form a total illness schema; we hence used a person-centered analysis method, latent profile analysis (LPA), to classify gamblers by their overall IR for GD (including consequences, personal and treatment control, timeline cyclical, emotional representations, and coherence) into groups and then tested whether these groups differed in GD symptoms, controlled gambling behaviors, and help-seeking intention. An anonymous online survey was conducted on a social media platform, and valid responses from 589 past-year adult gamblers were collected. LPA results supported a four-profile model, revealing four profiles of GD representations: the weak-perception profile, average profile, tensed-up profile, and rational profile. Significant differences were found in all outcome variables in these four profile groups. In particular, the rational group exhibited the lowest levels of GD symptoms and impaired behavioral control, the highest levels of responsible and controlled gambling, and the highest levels of help-seeking intention, whereas the weak-perception group reported the lowest levels of responsible and controlled gambling behaviors. The findings provide empirical support for the application of CSM to addictive behaviors, as well as preliminary evidence for the potential use of CSM-based interventions for GD prevention.