The role of acculturative stress and cultural backgrounds in migrants with pathological gambling

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to differentiate specific migration-related factors that can account for an increased vulnerability to pathological gambling (PG) among migrants in Germany. One hundred and six gamblers (61 migrants, 45 Germans) with varying degrees of gambling problems participated in the study. We analysed (1) differences between migrants and Germans regarding gambling patterns, severity of gambling problems, motivation and craving; influence of (2) acculturative stress;(3) acceptance and popularity of gambling in the culture of origin on gambling problems; (4) differences between migrants and Germans regarding family gambling and peer gambling; and (5) differences in religiosity and its influence on gambling problems. Results suggest no differences between migrants and Germans regarding gambling patterns and the severity of gambling problems. However, findings indicate that migrants have higher motivation and craving to gamble. Findings further suggest that acculturative stress is associated with more severe gambling problems. In contrast, acceptance and popularity of gambling in the country of origin was not a significant predictor of gambling problems. At the same time, family gambling and peer gambling was significantly more prevalent among migrants, constituting an additional risk factor in the present sample. On the other hand, migrants in the sample benefit more often from a protective influence of religiosity.

The Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling: A revised framework for understanding gambling harm

“…Ethnicity and traditions acknowledges ways in which perspectives on gambling vary according to culture with different emphases on attributes such as luck and patterns of probabilistic thinking (e.g., Forrest & Wardle, 2011;Kim, 2012). It also reviews the influence of immigrant and refugee experiences on harmful gambling (e.g., Jacoby et al, 2013). Socio-cultural attitudes examines changes in societal attitudes toward gambling that can be linked to dominant norms and values.…”

Acculturative Stress and Risky Sexual Behavior

“…Acculturative stress reflects distress in response to the transition from a person’s culture of origin toward a different culture (Berry, 1998), including stress related to experienced discrimination (Anderson, 1991; Joiner & Walker, 2002). Past work suggests acculturative stress is related to other forms of risk behavior, such as alcohol/substance use (Oshri et al, 2014; Unger, 2014; Zamboanga, Schwartz, Jarvis, & Van Tyne, 2009) and problematic gambling (Jacoby et al, 2013). Cross-sectional data also suggest increases in acculturative stress correlate with increased levels of negative affect (Paukert, Pettit, Perez, & Walker, 2006), as well as depression and anxiety severity (Baker, Soto, Perez, & Lee, 2012; Revollo, Qureshi, Collazos, Valero, & Casas, 2011; Walker, Wingate, Obasi, & Joiner, 2008), and prospective work supports this influence of acculturative stress on negative affect (Sirin, Ryce, Gupta, & Rogers-Sirin, 2013).…”

God, family and money: Pacific people and gambling in New Zealand

“…Māori (indigenous New Zealanders) in New Zealand show similar patterns (Abbott & Volberg, 2000;Abbott et al, 2014;Clarke et al, 2006). Scholars have offered explanations for these ethnicities' gambling behaviour that point to the impacts of central features of life as an ethnic minority, most notably problems of acculturation (Coman, Burrows, & Evans, 1997: Jacoby et al, 2013 and how they coincide with stress, loneliness and depression, which are risk factors for gambling behaviour (Blaszczynski, 1996). Raylu and Oei (2004) also list acculturation as a factor involved in why some ethnic groups gamble more, in addition to social learning between generations and normalization of gambling in certain communities through popularity.…”