Abstract
Alexithymia, difficulties in emotion regulation, and negative affect play an important role in adolescents who present pathological gambling. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were, firstly, to analyze the differences between alexithymia, difficulties in emotion regulation, and positive and negative affect in adolescents with and without risk of gambling problems. Secondly, the relationships between all the variables of the study in adolescents with and without risk of problem gambling were analyzed separately. Thirdly, we analyzed the mediating role of positive and negative affect in the relationship between alexithymia and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies (ERS) in adolescents at risk of gambling problems. The sample was composed of 206 adolescents with ages ranging from 12 to 18 years (M = 15.52; SD = 1.43). They were divided into two groups according to the score obtained in the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA). Thus, 84 were included in the group without risk of gambling problems and 122 in the group at risk of gambling problems. The results obtained revealed higher scores in negative affect and pathological gambling in the group at risk of gambling problems. Likewise, positive relationships between alexithymia, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (MERS), and affect were found. Mediation analyses showed that difficulties in identifying feelings were indirectly related to greater use of dysfunctional ERS through their relationship with negative affect in at-risk gamblers.
Highlights
Gambling disorder, which has been included as an addictive disorder in the last DSM edition (APA, 2013), consists of persistent and recurrent gambling behavior despite its negative consequences
This study’s first aim was to analyze the differences in maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (MERS), alexithymia, and negative and positive affect among adolescents balanced for gender and sex, with and without risky gambling behavior
The differences were significant in negative affect and gambling severity
Summary
Gambling disorder, which has been included as an addictive disorder in the last DSM edition (APA, 2013), consists of persistent and recurrent gambling behavior despite its negative consequences. Gambling has become one of the most frequent addictive behaviors in adolescents and young adults (Secades-Villa et al, 2016). This may be due to the growing availability and accessibility of gambling, which may result in an increasing prevalence. Journal of Gambling Studies of gambling problems (González-Roz et al, 2017; Secades-Villa et al, 2014). It is known that many adults who present a gambling disorder start their risky gambling behavior during adolescence (Garrido et al, 2017; Sharman et al, 2019; Volberg et al, 2010). An early start in gambling behavior is associated with greater severity in later stages of life (Jiménez-Murcia et al, 2010; Kang et al, 2019; Lamas et al, 2018)
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