The influence of chronological age on cognitive biases and impulsivity levels in male patients with gambling disorder

Abstract

Background and aimsDue to the contribution of age to the etiology of gambling disorder (GD), there is a need to assess the moderator effect of the aging process with other features that are highly related with the clinical profile. The objective of this study is to examine the role of the chronological age into the relationships between cognitive biases, impulsivity levels and gambling preference with the GD profile during adulthood.MethodsSample included n = 209 patients aged 18–77 years-old recruited from a Pathological Gambling Outpatients Unit. Orthogonal contrasts explored polynomial patterns in data, and path analysis implemented through structural equation modeling assessed the underlying mechanisms between the study variables.ResultsCompared to middle-age patients, younger and older age groups reported more impairing irrational beliefs (P = 0.005 for interpretative control and P = 0.043 for interpretative bias). A linear trend showed that as people get older sensation seeking (P = 0.006) and inability to stop gambling (P = 0.018) increase. Path analysis showed a direct effect between the cognitive bias and measures of gambling severity (standardized effects [SE] between 0.12 and 0.17) and a direct effect between impulsivity levels and cumulated debts due to gambling (SE = 0.22).ConclusionScreening tools and intervention plans should consider the aging process. Specific programs should be developed for younger and older age groups, since these are highly vulnerable to the consequences of gambling activities and impairment levels of impulsivity and cognitive biases.

The Relationship between Impulsiveness, Self-Esteem, Irrational Gambling Belief and Problem Gambling Moderating Effects of Gender

“…According to recent research, up to one percent of the population is currently suffering from problem gambling [ 1 ]. Prevalence studies also indicate that gambling problems could increase in the near future for all populations due to increased access to gambling platforms and increasing gambling opportunities [ 2 ]. The size of the gambling industry market in Korea expanded to 20.5 trillion won by 2015 after the government legalized the gambling industry in the early 2000s [ 3 ].…”

Global Research Pattern of Cognitive Distortion: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Next, in the particular subject area, it is evident that the publication as a whole is dominated by themes relating to sexual offenders, gambling, psychological disorders, and the treatment of cognitive distortion as indicated in point 4.2. The fact that “male” is the word that occurs the most frequently in the research of cognitive distortion is supported by certain studies that focus on the “male” group and have dominated publications in recent years such as studies on male sexual offenders by D’Urso et al (2019, 2021) and Marshall (2021) as well as studies on gambling by Granero et al (2020), Mathieu et al (2020), and Orlowski et al (2020). However, other keywords are equally important, particularly those that appear in the top six positions and are connected to one another as illustrated in Figure 7.…”

Delay Discounting in Gambling Disorder: Implications in Treatment Outcome

“…Estimates were obtained within the total sample and also stratified by the groups defined by the participants’ age. Three sub-groups based on other studies within the GD area were considered [ 50 , 57 , 66 , 67 ]: younger age (18 to 34 years old), middle-age (35 to 50 years old), and older age (51 to 80 years)], in addition to the gambling preference (non-strategic, strategic and mixed). Partial correlations adjusted by age were obtained within the groups of patients with different gambling preferences.…”

“…In non-clinical populations, age is another factor affecting discount rates, where more impulsive choices are observed in younger individuals [ 48 , 49 ]. Overall, younger gamblers have been described as more impulsive than the oldest ones [ 26 , 50 ]. Thus, discount rates could affect responses to treatment differently in younger than older patients.…”