Carla Martí Valls - Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper, Lund

Title: From the Gambler’s Perspective: Meaning-Making, Gambling Identity, and Personality Functioning in Gambling Problems

Main supervisor: Professor Anders Håkansson, Lund University 

Reviewers: PhD Chris Geraets, Lund University, Associate Professor Martin Wolgast, Lund University and PhD André Tärnhäll, Lund University

Abstract

Background

The social and subjective aspects of addiction are often understudied, limiting our understanding of addiction from a first-person perspective and constraining models of recovery, learned habits, and social identity. This gap is especially evident in less-studied addictions like gambling disorder, where theories from other addictions are often reused rather than tailored to its unique characteristics. The aim of this thesis is to examine how gamblers understand and make sense of their gambling. Specifically, it investigates (1) what outcomes they expect from gambling, (2) how they conceptualize gambling problems, (3) how they personally construct gambling and gambling problems, and (4) how strongly they identify as a “gambler”. Further, it examines how these factors relate to gambling problems and other gambling-related variables, and whether these associations vary according to personality functioning.

Research questions

1. What are the most common personal meanings that gamblers hold about gambling, and how strong is their gambling identity?
2. How do these personal meanings and gambling identity relate to gambling-related variables concurrently and over time?
3. Does    personality    functioning    moderate    the    relations    between personal meanings/gambling identity and gambling-related variables?

Preliminary results

Study I. The gambling outcome expectancies most strongly associated with gambling problems and symptoms were escape, ego enhancement, and excitement expectancies. Moreover, the maladaptive personality traits of disinhibition and antagonism were also linked to gambling problems and symptoms. Interactions between escape and money expectancies and maladaptive personality traits in relation to gambling problems and symptoms were also observed.

Study II. In terms of conceptualizing gambling problems, being a woman and being older were associated with conceptualizing gambling problems as a disease, which in turn was associated with lower gambling problems and symptoms. In relation to gambling identity, being a man, being young, and having less education were associated with a stronger gambling identity, which in turn was associated with higher gambling problems and symptoms.

Significance

Examining personal meanings that gamblers attach to their gambling and their gambling identity can provide a more comprehensive understanding of overlooked conflicts in gambling, and point to more tailored interventions that improve engagement, outcomes, and help prevent gambling problems.