To chase or not to chase: A study on the role of mentalization and alcohol consumption in chasing behavior

Abstract

Background and aims: Chasing is a behavioral marker and a diagnostic criterion for gambling disorder. Although chasing has been recognized to play a central role in gambling disorder, research on this topic is relatively scarce. This study investigated the association between chasing, alcohol consumption, and mentalization among habitual gamblers. Method: A total of 132 adults took part in the study. Participants were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, and a laboratory task assessing chasing behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (Control, Loss, and Win). To deeply investigate chasing behavior, participants were requested to indicate the reasons for stopping or continuing playing at the end of the experimental session. Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that the choice to stop or continue playing depended on experimental condition and alcohol use. Hierarchical linear regression indicated that chasing propensity was affected by experimental condition, alcohol consumption, and deficit in mentalization. The results of path analysis showed that hypermentalizing predicts chasing not only directly, but also indirectly via alcohol consumption. Conclusions: Overall, these results for the first time showed that hypermentalization plays a key role in chasing behavior over and above gambling severity. Since these findings support the idea that chasers and non-chasers are different subtypes of gamblers, clinical interventions should consider the additive role of chasing in gambling disorder.

Mentalizing Failures, Emotional Dysregulation, and Cognitive Distortions Among Adolescent Problem Gamblers

“…Deficits in emotion regulation predispose individuals to experience negative emotions (Jauregui et al 2016 ; Veilleux et al 2014 ), as documented by high levels of anxiety and depression found among disordered gamblers (e.g. Cosenza et al 2019a ; Nigro et al 2017 , 2019a , b ). Although previous studies have observed significant associations between adolescent problem gambling, alexithymia (Cosenza et al 2014 ), and negative emotions (Cosenza et al 2019a ; Nigro et al 2017 ), only one study (Estévez et al 2017 ) has investigated emotional dysregulation in non-substance-related addictions among adolescents, demonstrating that emotion dysregulation predicts several addictive behaviors, including gambling.…”

Role of Gambling in Payback Failure in Consumer Credit—Data from a Large Body of Material Regarding Consumer Loan Recipients in Sweden

“…The opposite pattern of gambling, representing a low level of loss of control, would theoretically be a pattern where money is wagered sporadically on separate and distinct occasions, and where one wager is not soon followed by a new one. One particular feature of problem gambling is known to be 'chasing' behavior [20], most typically characterized by an urge to continue gambling in order to 'chase' back losses, although the 'chasing' of an enhanced experience after a win can be possible [34]. Altogether, chasing behavior can be suspected to explain or contribute to gambling behavior with higher short-term intensity.…”

Chasing the desire: An investigation on the role of craving, time perspective, and alcohol use in adolescent gambling

“…The extant literature has demonstrated that chasing is an important step in the development and maintenance of gambling disorder (for reviews, see Nigro et al, 2018b , Nigro et al, 2019 , Zhang and Clark, 2020 ), is one of the few observable signs for disordered gambling ( Gainsbury, Suhonen, & Saaststamoinen, 2014 ), and the only criterion of gambling addiction absent in substance use disorder ( Quester & Romanczuk-Seiferth, 2015 ).…”

“…Previous research found that chasing is associated, among others, with impulsivity ( Breen & Zuckerman, 1999 ), sensation seeking ( Linnet, Røjskjær, Nygaard, & Maher, 2006 ), increased activation in brain regions related to reward expectation ( Campbell-Meiklejohn et al, 2008 ), low sensitivity to punishment ( Kim & Lee, 2011 ), poor decision-making ( Nigro, Ciccarelli, & Cosenza, 2018a ), disinhibition ( Nigro et al, 2018b ), alexithymia ( Bibby, 2016 ), deficit in mentalization ( Nigro et al, 2019 ), and heightened levels of craving ( Ciccarelli, Cosenza, D’Olimpio, Griffiths, & Nigro, 2019b ). Importantly, recent research provided evidences that chasers and nonchasers represent two distinct subgroups of gamblers, over and above gambling severity ( Ciccarelli et al, 2019a , Ciccarelli et al, 2019b , Nigro et al, 2018a , Nigro et al, 2018b , Nigro et al, 2019 ; see also Linnet et al, 2006 ). Moreover, a recent contribution reported a significant association between craving and shortened time horizon ( Ciccarelli et al, 2019a ), showing that chasers differ significantly from nonchasers in terms of temporal perspective, with chasers being more focused on the present rather than to the future consequences of their behavior.…”

“…Consistent with previous studies on adolescents demonstrating a strong association between gambling severity and weak concern for the long-term consequences of engaging in the behavior (for a review, see Cosenza, Ciccarelli & Nigro, 2019b ) and in line with recent findings on adults ( Ciccarelli et al, 2019b ), we expected that, compared to nonchasers, chasers would show higher levels of craving and shortened time horizon. Furthermore, as chasing behavior and craving were found to be associated with alcohol misuse ( Ciccarelli et al, 2020 , Nigro et al, 2019 , O'Connor and Dickerson, 2003 ), we expected that higher levels of alcohol consumption would be associated with higher levels of craving and chasing proneness. Specifically, it was hypothesized that, along with gambling severity, craving, present orientation, and alcohol consumption would predict chasing behavior.…”