The role of affect-driven impulsivity in gambling cognitions: A convenience-sample study with a Spanish version of the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale

Abstract

Background and aimsAbnormal cognitions are among the most salient domain-specific features of gambling disorder. The aims of this study were: (a) to examine and validate a Spanish version of the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS; Raylu & Oei, 2004) and (b) to examine associations between cognitive distortion levels, impulsivity, and gambling behavior.MethodsThis study first recruited a convenience sample of 500 adults who had gambled during the previous year. Participants were assessed using the Spanish version of GRCS (GRCS-S) questionnaire, the UPPS-P impulsivity questionnaire, measures of gambling behavior, and potentially relevant confounders. Robust confirmatory factor analysis methods on half the sample were used to select the best models from a hypothesis-driven set. The best solutions were validated on the other half, and the resulting factors were later correlated with impulsivity dimensions (in the whole n = 500 factor analysis sample) and clinically relevant gambling indices (in a separate convenience sample of 137 disordered and non-disordered gamblers; validity sample).ResultsThis study supports the original five-factor model, suggests an alternative four-factor solution, and confirms the psychometric soundness of the GRCS-S. Importantly, cognitive distortions consistently correlated with affect- or motivation-driven aspects of impulsivity (urgency and sensation seeking), but not with cognitive impulsivity (lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance).Discussion and conclusionsOur findings suggest that the GRCS-S is a valid and reliable instrument to identify gambling cognitions in Spanish samples. Our results expand upon previous research signaling specific associations between gambling-related distortions and affect-driven impulsivity in line with models of motivated reasoning.

Types of Emotion Regulation and Their Associations with Gambling: A Cross-Sectional Study with Disordered and Non-problem Ecuadorian Gamblers

“…This prediction arises from conceptualizing cognitive biases themselves as resulting from strategies to enhance or to deal with the same positive and negative emotions that trigger impulsive behavior. This pattern of correlations was found in a large British sample (Michalczuk, Bowden-Jones, Verdejo-Garcia, & Clark, 2011), and closely replicated in a Spanish one (Del Prete et al, 2017).…”

Dimensions of Impulsivity in Gambling Disorder

“…www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ impulsive dimensions and essential GD clinical features, such as cognitive distortions 37,68,69 , gambling choices 70,71 , emotion-regulation impairment 72 , or GD-related illegal acts 34 . Sensation seeking as well as urgency, which appear to be related with GD severity in some studies, including ours 36,38,73 , are strongly associated with emotional factors 74 .…”

“…Future research should examine facets of impulsivity in different contexts and in relation to individual differences in gambling-related cognitions 68 , in order to obtain a more precise evaluation of how different aspects of impulsivity relate to gambling behaviors. Moreover, validated instruments were not used to screen psychiatric morbidities in the HC group.…”

Reconsidering the roots, structure, and implications of gambling motives: An integrative approach

“…And thirdly, sampling was intended to include gamblers across the whole severity continuum, and, thus, a proportion of disordered gamblers was included to ensure a sufficient number of observations at pathological levels. Convenience, non-random samples with nonproportional numbers of individuals in high or low levels of the severity continuum (relative to what is common in the population of reference) is pervasive in the literature (see, for example [10,51,92,93,94]). Unavoidably, this method generates samples that are not closely representative of any particular demographic group.…”