Adolescent gambling and impulsivity: Does employment during high school moderate the association?

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the potential moderating relationships between adolescent gambling and impulsivity traits (negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance and sensation seeking) with employment status. High-school students (N=400; 69% male; mean age=18.35 years; SD=1.16; past year gamblers) were surveyed to provide data on impulsivity and employment. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to examine associations with gambling and related problems. Positive urgency was associated with stronger scores of both gambling frequency and problem gambling. Students in employment had substantially higher frequency of gambling and greater problem gambling. Moreover, the combination of having a job and low perseverance was associated with a particularly high frequency on gambling. These findings further support the importance of positive urgency and employment status in adolescent gambling. The study highlights unique moderating relationship between gambling and lack of perseverance with employment status. Youth with a low perseverance and having a job may have particular need for interventions to reduce gambling.

The Relationship between Impulsivity and Problem Gambling in Adolescence

“…Similarly, gambling prevalence among those who gambled in the last year was still below that found in previous studies (McCormack et al, 2013; Castren et al, 2015; Canale et al, 2016). Several factors might explain this divergent result.…”

“…Impulsivity has been found to increase the likelihood of gambling onset in youths with low – but not high – socio-economic status (SES) (Auger et al, 2010; Dussault et al, 2011), and to predict gambling frequency (Benson et al, 2012) and problem gambling in low SES adolescent males. One study also found that positive urgency was associated with stronger scores of both gambling frequency and problem gambling (Canale et al, 2016). …”

“…For example, almost all studies used cross-sectional designs (Barnes et al, 2005; Leeman et al, 2014; Canale et al, 2016) that cannot address directionality, and most of the few longitudinal studies only included male subjects (Vitaro et al, 1997, 1999; Dussault et al, 2011; Liu et al, 2013). Several previous studies did not find a relationship between impulsivity and gambling among young people (Barnes et al, 2005; Lee et al, 2011).…”

The multiplicative effect of combining alcohol with energy drinks on adolescent gambling

“…Two recent meta-analyses have suggested that association of AmED use with risky behaviors can be interpreted in terms of phenotypical differences between AmED and alcohol without energy drink consumers, such as personality traits or propensity for risk-taking. Little research has examined impulsivity in the context of AmED consumption among adolescent and young people, but it is well established that adolescents with gambling problems have higher levels of impulsivity than non-problem gamblers (Derevensky & Gilbeau, 2015;Canale, Scacchi, & Griffiths, 2016). Additionally, previous studies have shown that repeated dopaminergic activation of prefrontal pathways by chronic stimulant use (e.g., alcohol mixed with caffeine) eventually impairs inhibitory functions, leading to a loss of control over behavioral impulses (Lyvers, 2000), which in turn is strongly associated with problem gambling (Blaszczynski & Nower, 2002).…”

The benefits of using the UPPS model of impulsivity rather than the Big Five when assessing the relationship between personality and problem gambling

“…These two UPPS components rely upon distinct underlying mechanisms [10], which are not linked identically to PG [11]. In fact, the lack of premeditation has been associated with poor decision-making abilities, which is an established hallmark of PG [12,13], whereas the lack of perseverance has been linked rather to attentional processes that are not necessary altered in PG.…”