Associations between financial gambling motives, gambling frequency and level of problem gambling: a meta-analytic review.

Abstract

Money is central to psychological definitions of gambling, but contemporary accounts are ambiguous regarding the role of financial motives in disordered gambling. The aims of the current research were to obtain meta-analytic weighted effect sizes for zero-order associations of financial motives against gambling frequency and level of problem gambling, as well as partial associations after controlling for other motives (e.g. coping). A meta-analysis of the literature through February 2021 was undertaken. Studies were identified from multiple sources (e.g. database search, other researchers). PRISMA standards were followed when screening identified records and extracting relevant data. The data analytic plan was pre-registered. We included 44 cross-sectional studies that involved student, community and clinical samples of people who gamble (sample sizes ranged from 22-5666), using validated self-report measures of financial gambling motives alongside measures of either gambling frequency and/or problem gambling. Financial gambling motives were positively associated with gambling frequency, r=0.29, 95% CI = [0.21, 0.37], n=22 738, and level of problem gambling, r=0.35, 95% CI = [0.31, 0.38], n=38 204, with moderate effect sizes. Partial associations after controlling for overlapping variance with other gambling motives were also positive (gambling frequency: β=0.14, 95% CI = [0.05, 0.22], n=13 844; level of problem gambling: β=0.18, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.22], n=28 146), with small-to-moderate effect sizes. Effect sizes were heterogeneous and the extent of heterogeneity was high. Analyses of the zero-order association involving gambling frequency indicated that gambling motives measure (greater for Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial) and sample mean age (greater for younger samples) were moderators. No other moderators were statistically significant. Financial gambling motives appear to be reliably and positively associated with both gambling frequency and level of problem gambling.