Chasing, Arousal and Sensation Seeking in Off‐course Gamblers

Abstract

Off-course betting agency customers fN-/72> were assessed by a brief structured interview and by a questionnaire that included; the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS Form V), a short form of the State portion of the State-Trait Anxiety questionnaire designed to assess subjective reports of levels of arousal after betting but prior to the race result, a question assessing the frequency of chasing and questions about other aspects of betting behaviour. Contrary to the hypothesis of Zuckerman (1979) the results showed that male bettors as a group were significantly lower on SSS scores than existing population norms. Despite the restricted range of these scores weak but significant relationships were shown between SSS subscales and level of involvement in betting.Chasing was shown to be a central feature of a group of out-of-control betting behaviours. Sensation Seeking scores were positively correlated with level of involvement and the relationship found between the Boredom Susceptibility subscale and arousal was tentatively highlighted as an individual difference that would predispose a person to greater loss of control and possible problematic levels of gambling.

Internet Gambling Behavior in a Sample of Online Gamblers

“…Gambling to escape problems has been tied to poor coping skills, and the relationship between maladaptive coping skills and gambling problems has been seen in adolescents (Gupta and Derevensky 1998a;Marget et al 1999;Nower et al 2004a, b), young adults (Nower et al 2004a, b), GA members (Getty et al 2000), college students (Lightsey and Hulsey 2002), and adults (Farrelly et al 2007;McCormick 1994;Turner et al 2006). A link between boredom and problem gambling has also been established (Bonnaire et al 2004;Dickerson et al 1987;Parke et al 2007;Gupta et al 2006;Kuley and Jacobs 1988). An inability to cope with boredom has been referred to as a powerful trigger for problem gambling (GamCare 2006).…”

The Relationship Between Pathological Gambling and Sensation Seeking: The Role of Subscale Scores

“…However, PGs are likely to have BS and DS scores that are equal to or higher than those seen in NPGs. Several studies that investigate pathological gambling and SS only report the SSS-V total score and do not report subscale values (e.g., Anderson and Brown 1984; Dickerson et al 1987; Parke et al 2004). …”

Impaired control over gambling in gaming machine and off‐course gamblers

“…Impaired control over gambling is known to correlate with time spent gambling and expenditure (Dickerson 1991). This research was also designed to test the concurrent validity of The Scale of Gambling Choices by measuring a number of gambling involvement variables, including the ‘chasing’ of losses (gambling with an intention to recover prior losses), a phenomenon that has been associated with excessive gambling (Lesieur 1984; Dickerson, Hinchy & Fabre 1987; Corless & Dickerson 1989; O’Connor et al . 1995).…”