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Wu, Ruolin (Raymond)

University of British Columbia

Impulsivity is a core component of problem gambling. This conventionally entails acting without thinking. However, people may use deliberate, intentional justifications to grant themselves permission to gamble. Across 3 studies, I examined the degree to which gambling justifications were associated with problem gambling severity and gambling behaviour. Participants were gamblers who had experience with, or were currently, trying to reduce their gambling. In Studies 1 and 2, participants reported their gambling justifications and completed standard measures of impulsivity, cognitive distortions, and problem gambling severity. I found that justifications were positively associated with problem gambling severity even after controlling for impulsivity and cognitive distortions. These results were replicated in Study 2 with an improved design. In Study 3, I used a daily diary approach to examine fluctuations in justifications, craving, positive and negative affect, and gambling behaviour over a 21-day window. Results showed that justifications were positively, albeit modestly, associated with next-day gambling even after controlling for craving, positive affect, and negative affect. These findings indicate that justifications are a neglected aspect of cognition in gamblers that cannot be explained by impulsivity, cognitive distortions, craving, or affect, and may contribute to self-control failures and thus recovery from problem gambling.

Text

2023-08-15

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85487

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/