Abstract
The present study investigated the intergenerational transmission of problem gambling and the potential mediating role of parental psychopathology (problem drinking, drug use problems, and mental health issues). The study comprised 3953 participants (1938 males, 2015 females) recruited from a large-scale Australian community telephone survey of adults retrospectively reporting on parental problem gambling and psychopathology during their childhood. Overall, 4.0% [95%CI 3.0, 5.0] (n=157) of participants reported paternal problem gambling and 1.7% [95%CI 1.0, 2.0] (n=68) reported maternal problem gambling. Compared to their peers, participants reporting paternal problem gambling were 5.1 times more likely to be moderate risk gamblers and 10.7 times more likely to be problem gamblers. Participants reporting maternal problem gambling were 1.7 times more likely to be moderate risk gamblers and 10.6 times more likely to be problem gamblers. The results revealed that the relationships between paternal-and-participant and maternal-and-participant problem gambling were significant, but that only the relationship between paternal-and-participant problem gambling remained statistically significant after controlling for maternal problem gambling and sociodemographic factors. Paternal problem drinking and maternal drug use problems partially mediated the relationship between paternal-and-participant problem gambling, and fully mediated the relationship between maternal-and-participant problem gambling. In contrast, parental mental health issues failed to significantly mediate the transmission of gambling problems by either parent. When parental problem gambling was the mediator, there was full mediation of the effect between parental psychopathology and offspring problem gambling for fathers but not mothers. Overall, the study highlights the vulnerability of children from problem gambling households and suggests that it would be of value to target prevention and intervention efforts towards this cohort.
Highlights
It has been estimated that for each problem gambler, at least seven other people may be negatively impacted (Productivity Commission,⁎ Corresponding author at: Deakin University, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Melbourne Burwood Campus, Room BC5.116, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia.1999)
The present study investigated the intergenerational transmission of problem gambling and the potential mediating role of parental psychopathology
The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which parental psychopathology can explain the intergenerational transmission of problem gambling from parents to offspring
Summary
It has been estimated that for each problem gambler, at least seven other people may be negatively impacted (Productivity Commission,⁎ Corresponding author at: Deakin University, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Melbourne Burwood Campus, Room BC5.116, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia.1999). Few studies, have examined the impact of problem gambling on families (Dowling, Smith, & Thomas, 2009; Kourgiantakis, Saint-Jacques, & Tremblay, 2013), on the nature of the intergenerational transmission of gambling problems. It is the focus of this study to investigate some of the potential explanatory mechanisms underpinning the relationship between parentaland-offspring gambling problems. Children and adolescents are often introduced to gambling by their parents and family members, becoming involved in gambling activities as part of normal and accepted family social entertainment (Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Jacobs, 2000)
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