Abstract
Over the past decade, several studies have investigated the relationship between cognitive distortions and emotion regulation among adolescent gamblers, demonstrating the exacerbating role of alcohol consumption when co-occurring with gambling problems. An important construct, that to date has been largely neglected, is mentalizing (i.e. the ability to reflect on one's own and others' mental states). The aim of the present study was (for the first time) to investigate the relative contribution of mentalization, emotional dysregulation, cognitive distortions, and alcohol consumption among adolescent gamblers. A total of 396 students (69.2% females) aged 14–19 years were recruited from secondary schools in Southern Italy. Assessment measures included the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA), the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS), and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Regression analysis showed that, along with male gender, the best predictors of adolescent gambling were scores on two GRCS subscales (i.e., ‘inability to stop gambling’ and ‘interpretative bias’), the RFQ-8’s ‘uncertainty about mental states’ dimension, and the DERS ‘impulse control difficulties’ factor, with the overall model explaining more than one-third of the total variance. The results clearly indicated that, along with gambling-related cognitive distortions, uncertainty about mental states, and difficulties remaining in control of one’s behavior when experiencing negative emotions contributed significantly to problematic gambling among adolescents.
Highlights
A systematic review of the most recent international studies published (2000–2016) highlighted that European adolescent problem gambling prevalence rates ranged from 0.2 to 5.6% (Calado et al 2017)
In the light of these findings, understanding the factors characterizing adolescent problem gambling is crucial in developing intervention strategies aimed at preventing the development of addiction, given that this age group is more susceptible to problem gambling than adults (Oh et al 2017; Wilber and Potenza 2006)
The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a 36-item self-report instrument assessing several dimensions of emotional dysregulation comprising six scales: non-acceptance of emotional responses (e.g., “When I’m upset, I feel like I am weak”), difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior (e.g., “When I’m upset, I have difficulty getting work done”), impulse control difficulties (e.g., “I experience my emotions as overwhelming and out of control”), lack of emotional awareness (e.g., “I am attentive to my feelings”, reverse coded), limited access to emotion regulation strategies (e.g., “When I’m upset, I start to feel very bad about myself”), and lack of emotional clarity (e.g., “I am confused about how I feel”)
Summary
A systematic review of the most recent international studies published (2000–2016) highlighted that European adolescent problem gambling prevalence rates ranged from 0.2 to 5.6% (Calado et al 2017). Mentalizing is an underexplored construct in adolescent problem gambling It refers to the ability in reflecting on self and others’ internal mental states such as feelings, attitudes, goals, beliefs, and emotions (Fonagy et al 2012). Mentalizing impairments can be of two types: hypomentalizing and hypermentalizing (Fonagy and Bateman 2016). Only one study has investigated the role of reflective functioning among adolescent gamblers, highlighting that general impairments in mentalizing play a key role in adolescent problematic gambling, and that, hypomentalizing mediates the relationship between dysfunctional impulsivity and gambling involvement (Cosenza et al 2019b)
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