From Delay Discounting to Gambling Harm: Gambling-related Cognitive Distortions as Mediating Pathways

Delay discounting is a well-established behavioral vulnerability marker across addictive disorders, including gambling disorder. However, the cognitive processes through which steep delay discounting relates to gambling problems remain unclear. This study investigates gambling-related cognitive distortions as potential correlates linking impulsive decision-making to gambling harm, addressing the gap between distal neurocognitive risk markers and proximal addiction severity. In a sample of active gamblers (N = 1484), we administered a delay discounting task alongside self-report measures of gambling-related cognitive distortions, problem gambling severity, and gambling frequency. Higher delay discounting rates significantly predicted problem gambling severity, even after controlling for education and socioeconomic status, highlighting its unique association with gambling harm. Mediation analyses revealed that the association between delay discounting and gambling harm was predominantly indirect, with specific loss-of-control beliefs and interpretative bias emerging as the strongest proximal cognitive correlates, emphasizing the specificity of cognitive distortions that account for this relationship. The findings are consistent with Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution assumptions concerning the role of cognitive processes in the association between impulsive reward valuation and gambling harm. The findings suggest that delay discounting may be associated with problem gambling severity through gambling-related cognitive distortions, indicating that this relationship may partly involve how gambling experiences are interpreted and appraised. Targeting gambling-specific cognitive distortions may therefore be essential for successful prevention and treatment efforts. Due to the cross-sectional nature of our data, longitudinal or experimental studies are needed to examine causal relationships and clarify the temporal pathways linking delay discounting, cognitive distortions, and gambling disorder severity.