Risky Gambling Behaviors: Associations with Mental Health and a History of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Abstract

Problem gambling and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are highly co-morbid and lead to numerous adverse health outcomes. Research demonstrates that greater levels of well-being protect individuals from experiencing ACE-related harms after a history of childhood adversity; however, this relationship has not been examined in the gambling literature. We hypothesized that individuals who experienced ACEs would engage in more problem gambling behaviors. We also hypothesized that individuals who experienced ACEs and reported flourishing mental health would have lower rates of problem gambling than individuals who experienced ACEs but did not report flourishing mental health. We conducted a secondary data analysis of the adult sample in the Well-Being and Experiences (WE) Study. Examining a parent population, parents and caregivers (N = 1000; Mage = 45.2 years; 86.5% female) of adolescents were interviewed on a variety of measures, including their history of ACEs, their gambling behaviors within the past year, and their mental health and well-being. We used multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between 15 ACEs and gambling type (i.e., non-gambler, non-problem gambler, at-risk/problem gambler). We used interaction terms between each ACE and mental health to examine the moderating role of flourishing mental health and well-being. ACEs were associated with at-risk/problem gambling supporting hypothesis 1. Contrary to hypothesis 2, overall, flourishing mental health did not moderate the relationship between ACEs and gambling severity except for one ACE. In this study, we were able to gain a better understanding of how different ACEs each contribute to varying levels of gambling severity.

The Interest in Betting, Smoking, Alcohol, and Drugs in Malawi: Changing Trends between 2012-2022

“…Such behavioural addictions include many risks that may harm individuals' physical, mental, and social health, none of which are positive for public health. Some people may become addicted to gambling, leading to financial losses, debts, impaired family and social relationships, job loss, deteriorating mental health, and a decline in well-being [8][9][10][11] . Therefore, gambling and similar games are considered a public health issue and monitoring them is crucial.…”