The Relationship of Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, Coping, and Substance Use in Youth Gamblers.

Abstract

This study examines the relationship of impulsivity, sensation seeking, coping, and substance use to disordered gambling in a sample of 1,339 youth (637 males and 702 females), 17-21 years old. Results indicate that males with serious gambling problems were more likely than their peers to abuse substances and to use avoidant stress-coping strategies, such as seeking emotional outlets, distracting themselves with other activities, and using humor. In contrast, female disordered gamblers were less likely to engage in active coping and planning strategies. Overall, substance use, coping through distraction, and impulsivity proved the most predictive of disordered gambling for males, and intensity seeking and impulsivity proved most predictive for females. Implications for prevention, intervention, and education are discussed.

‘The notorious gambling class’: patterns of gambling among young people in Denmark

“…This research has provided important evidence of a number of individual risk factors and correlates of youth gambling and problem gambling (e.g Shead et al, 2010). As we have noted elsewhere (XXX), research in this vein has established evidence that youths with gambling problems are more likely to be males than females (Jacobs, 2004), that gambling problems among youths is often associated with poor school performance, alcohol, tobacco and drug use (Winters et al, 1993), as well as various psychological characteristics such as impulsivity and erroneous cognitions (Nower et al, 2004). We also know that problematic youth gambling is often associated with parental gambling (Wynne et al, 1996), as well as starting to gamble at an early age (Burge et al, 2004).…”

Gambling and violence in a nationally representative sample of UK men

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Dissociable effects of age and testosterone on adolescent impatience

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