Abstract
Gambling in moderation is a socially acceptable behavior and over 60% of the Swedish population gambles every year. It has been seen that slot machines are one of the most addictive and problematic forms of gambling and contribute highly to an addictive behavior. It is unclear why some individuals intensify their gambling behavior over time to extreme levels while others do not. Initial positive response of a drug or as in this case a gambling behavior, most likely influences the likelihood of continuing use in non-addicted individuals. Therefore, we wanted to investigate if recreational gamblers show an altered subjective response to an online gambling challenge, e.g. to casino gambling. The present study was designed to examine the subjective effects after an acute gambling challenge, in healthy recreational gamblers compared with non-gamblers. Eighty-two subjects participated in the study. They were challenged with an acute online slot machine gambling challenge and self-report questionnaires of mood and blood pressure were taken before and after gambling. The gamblers, and more specifically the high recreational gamblers, reported increased stimulative effects after the gambling challenge in comparison to the non-gamblers. Findings suggests that gamblers experience significantly higher arousal effects to an acute online slot machine challenge. This response may be a uniquely predictive behavior for increased risk of gambling addiction.
Highlights
Gambling addiction is a serious and worldwide problem that affects an individual on a personal and familial level and has an enormous financial consequence (Bergh and Kühlhorn 1994)
The present study describes subjective and cardiovascular effects after an acute gambling challenge in recreational gamblers and non-gamblers
Recreational Gamblers showed an increased Benzedrine-like effect. When we analyzed both the High and Low Recreational Gamblers it was found that the High Recreational Gamblers boosted the drug-like response in comparison to the Non-Gamblers
Summary
Gambling addiction is a serious and worldwide problem that affects an individual on a personal and familial level and has an enormous financial consequence (Bergh and Kühlhorn 1994). Around 0.5% of the adult population fulfills the DSM-V criteria for diagnoses (Petry et al 2005; Kessler et al 2008) and today the wider concept of problem. One of the biggest changes to gambling behavior over the past decade has been the widespread increase of online casinos and the ever-increasing availability of internet gambling (Bonnaire 2012). It has been seen that online slot machines are one of the most addictive and problematic forms of gambling and contribute highly to casino turnover (Mcbride and Derevensky 2012; Dixon et al 2018). Access to internet gambling allows people to engage in gambling at any time and place and is allowing more and more people to become addicted (Currie et al 2013; Gainsbury et al 2015; Chóliz 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
