Excitement-Seeking Gambling in Adolescents: Health Correlates and Gambling-Related Attitudes and Behaviors

The Mediating Effect of Danger Invulnerability in the Relationship Between Sensation Seeking and Gambling Among University Students

The association between sensation-seeking and gambling is well established, yet the research on mediators of this relationship is limited. The proposed model of the present study includes sensation seeking as an antecedent variable, danger invulnerability as a mediator, and gambling frequency as an outcome variable.Self-report data obtained from a convenient sample of 641 university students aged 18-40 years (Mage = 21.25; F = 52.7%, M = 47.3%) were analysed. This study supported proposed hypothesis that both sensation seeking and danger invulnerability are in significant positive relation with the frequency of gambling. Moreover, the results show that tested mediation model fit the data well, and that danger invulnerability completely mediates the relationship between sensation seeking and gambling frequency, such that higher sensation seeking is related to higher danger invulnerability and higher danger invulnerability is related to higher gambling frequency. The model explained 42.4% of the variance in danger invulnerability and 32.7% of the variance in gambling frequency. This study underscores the importance of examining both the direct and indirect effects of different variables on gambling behaviour.

Sexting Behaviors Before and During COVID-19 in Italian and Colombian Young Adults

Introduction

Recent research highlight increasing at-risk online sexual activities and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic among young adults. Specifically, sexting refers to exchanging sexually suggestive messages, photos, and videos through technological devices, and it can be placed on a continuum from safer to riskier behavior. This study aims to improve our knowledge about sexting behaviors in Italian and Colombian young adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A survey online was filled in by all recruited participants through a snowball sampling procedure (from December 2019 to June 2021) both in Italy and Colombia, resulting in a total of 2931 participants (2051 from Italy and 880 from Colombia) aged 18 to 35 years old (Mage = 23.85; SDage = 3.63; 67.6% girls).

Results

Italian youth were more engaged in risky sexting than Colombian participants, while Colombians indicated being more engaged in non-consensual sexting than Italians. Sexual minority people reported more sharing their own sexts, higher levels of sexting under pressure, and 3.2 times more risky sexting than exclusively heterosexual counterparts. During the pandemic period, participants sent their own sexts 1.5 times more and were less involved in non-consensual sexting than in the pre-pandemic era.

Conclusions

The present research could help understand better the cultural dynamics underlying the differences in sexting behaviors, suggesting the relevance of investigating how sexting behaviors and online at-risk activities have changed since the pandemic started.

Policy Implications

Results provide implications for educational and prevention programs to improve young people's awareness of sexting behaviors.

An exploratory study of anxiety-motivated gambling in adolescents: Associations with minority status and gambling, health and functioning measures

Gambling and anxiety are major public health concerns in adolescents and have been linked to emotion dysregulation and mood-modulating behaviors. While previous studies have shown links between positively reinforcing excitement-motivated gambling, health and functioning measures, and gambling perceptions and behavioral correlates in adolescents, few studies have examined such relationships relative to negatively reinforcing anxiety-motivated gambling (AMG). This study systematically examined relationships between adolescents reporting gambling to relieve anxiety (compared to those who gambled but did not report AMG) and measures of health/functioning and gambling-related measures. Participants included 1,856 Connecticut high-school students. Chi-square and logistic regression models were conducted. AMG was reported by 6.41% of the sample and was associated with identifying with a minority group (Black, Asian-American, Hispanic), at-risk/problem gambling, more permissive attitudes towards gambling, and higher odds of heavy alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, and violence-related measures. Adolescents with AMG were more likely to report non-strategic gambling, and gambling to escape/relieve dysphoria and due to feeling pressure. Additional between-group differences were found for gambling types, locations, motivations, and partners. Together, AMG may represent a mood-modulating behavior indicative of multiple problematic concerns, suggesting that emotional dysregulation may be an important factor in understanding the relationship between anxiety, problem gambling, and risky behaviors in youth. Additionally, the negative reinforcing motivations to gamble to relieve anxiety may be relevant particularly to adolescents from underrepresented minority racial/ethnic groups, and the specific factors underlying this relationship warrant further investigation.

An Exploratory Study of Shopping to Relieve Tension or Anxiety in Adolescents: Health Correlates and Gambling-Related Perceptions and Behaviors

The desire to escape from pressures/anxiety represents an important motivation for problematic engagement with short-term rewarding behaviors that could contribute to the development of recognized and candidate behavioral addictions, including problematic shopping, a prevalent condition among youth in the U.S.A. characterized by excessive shopping cognitions/behaviors that lead to distress/impairment. However, to date, the specific correlates of shopping to relieve anxiety or tension have yet to be evaluated. We aimed at addressing this gap by analyzing data (N = 2556) from a high-school survey from Connecticut in an exploratory fashion. Adolescents who acknowledged experiencing a growing tension or anxiety that could only be relieved by shopping were classified as having negative-reinforcement shopping and compared to the remaining students. Data were analyzed in chi-square and logistic regression models to examine negative-reinforcement shopping in relation to socio-demographics, health correlates, gambling-related perceptions/attitudes, and problem-gambling severity/gambling behaviors. Negative-reinforcement shopping was more frequent in female and Hispanic students, was linked to more permissive gambling attitudes and at-risk/problematic gambling, and was associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs, dysphoria/depression, and weapon-carrying and physical fighting. Taken together, these findings highlight adverse measures of health and functioning linked to negative-reinforcement shopping that may be particularly relevant to girls and Hispanic youth. Additional efforts to prevent negative outcomes are warranted.

Gender Differences and Associated Factors Influencing Problem Gambling in Adolescents in Sweden: Cross-sectional Investigation

BACKGROUND

Although gambling disorder is traditionally considered an adult phenomenon, the behavior usually begins in childhood or adolescence.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to explore the frequency of problem gambling among Swedish adolescents and the suspected associated factors.

METHODS

This study was based on data collected through a public health survey distributed in 2016 to pupils in ninth grade of primary school and in second grade of secondary school in Sweden. Bayesian binomial regression models, with weakly informative priors, were used to examine whether the frequency of the associated factors differed between those with and without problem gambling.

RESULTS

Approximately 11.7% (469/4002) of the boys in ninth grade of primary school and 13.9% (472/3407) of the boys in second grade of secondary school were classified as problem gamblers. For girls, the corresponding frequencies were 1.2% (48/4167) and 0.7% (27/3634), respectively. The overall response rate was 77% (9143/11,868) among ninth grade pupils and 73.4% (7949/10,832) among second grade pupils, resulting in a total of 17,092 responses. Problem gambling was associated with poor sleep and having tried smoking, alcohol, and other substances among both boys and girls in ninth grade of primary school and boys in second grade of secondary school. Problem gambling among girls in second grade of secondary school was associated with an increased prevalence of having tried smoking and other substances and an increased prevalence of poor sleep.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a large representative sample of Swedish adolescents, we found that problem gambling was robustly associated with a substantially increased prevalence of poor sleep and having tried smoking, alcohol, and other substances among both boys and girls in ninth grade of primary school as well as among boys in second grade of secondary school. Our study adds important information for policy makers pointing at vulnerable groups to be considered in their work to prevent problem gambling.

Casino Gambling in Adolescents: Gambling-Related Attitudes and Behaviors and Health and Functioning Relationships

Recreational and problem gambling have been linked with adverse health and functioning outcomes among adolescents. Youth may gamble and engage in other risk-taking behaviors in casinos. There are limited data available regarding casino gambling in high-school students, and factors linked to adolescent gambling in casinos have yet to be systematically investigated. To address this gap, we analyzed cross-sectional data from 2010 Connecticut high-school students with chi-square tests and logistic regression models to examine casino gambling in relation to at-risk/problem gambling (ARPG) with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, gambling perceptions & attitudes, health/functioning measures and gambling behaviors. Approximately 11 % of adolescents acknowledged gambling in casinos. ARPG was more frequent and gambling perceptions were more permissive among adolescents endorsing casino gambling. Stronger relationships between ARPG and heavy alcohol and drug use and weaker relationships between ARPG and engagement in extracurricular activities, gambling with friends, gambling with strangers and gambling for financial reasons were observed among adolescents endorsing casino gambling. In conclusion, gambling in casinos was endorsed by a sizable minority of adolescents who gamble, and prevention efforts should consider targeting permissive attitudes towards gambling, adolescent drinking and participation in extracurricular activities when addressing underage casino gambling.

Daily cannabis use in adolescents who smoke tobacco is associated with altered late-stage feedback processing: A high-density electrical mapping study

Impairments in feedback processing, often associated with risk-taking behavior, may have implications for development of substance abuse in adolescents. The most commonly used substances by adolescents include tobacco and cannabis, with some individuals using both substances, potentially heightening risk. Our objective was to examine feedback processing and impulsivity in adolescents who smoke cigarettes and use cannabis daily (N = 21), comparing them with adolescents who smoke cigarettes daily and use cannabis occasionally (N = 18) and non-smoking (N = 27) adolescents. To do this, the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) with concurrent EEG was used to measure risk-related feedback processing, and impulsivity was measured using the Barratt's impulsiveness scale (BIS-11). It was found that adolescent daily tobacco/cannabis smoking was associated with higher BIS-11 scores, shortened feedback-related-negativity (FRN) latencies and reduced P300 amplitudes. In addition, FRN latencies during win conditions were inversely associated with tobacco-use severity, indicated by scores on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), and with BIS-11 scores. Adolescents with concurrent tobacco and cannabis use show altered feedback processing and higher impulsivity. Future work should disentangle whether the effect reflects risk, consequences of use or both.

The rise of online sports betting, its fallout, and the onset of a new profile in gambling disorder: young people

HYPOTHESIS

Since 2015 the gambling trend may have changed among young people between 18 and 30 years old.

METHODOLOGY

Range of document review techniques obtained by therapeutic data regarding the personal development of each person in rehabilitation to analyze 13 different variables.

FINDINGS

Due to the new regulations legalizing online gambling in Spain, and the constant increase in its advertising, a shift could have taken place in the gamblers' profile: a preference for online sports betting and placing other bets using devices connected to the Internet, such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and similar technologies. Gamblers who use online media to place their bets also incur debts over the Internet. We find a possible proliferation of online betting services, that could imply an increase of social, psychological, and family relationship problems affecting young gamblers, which may constitute a new profile of gambling disorder.

The Relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Sexting Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults across 11 Countries

Background: Sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Some studies have investigated the role of personality traits in different sexting behaviors within mainstream personality taxonomies like Big Five and HEXACO. However, very few studies have investigated the role of maladaptive personality factors in sexting. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and experimental (i.e., sharing own sexts), risky (i.e., sexting under substance use and with strangers), and aggravated sexting (i.e., non-consensual sexting and sexting under pressure) across 11 countries. Methods: An online survey was completed by 6093 participants (Mage = 20.35; SDage = 3.63) from 11 different countries which covered four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Participants completed the Sexting Behaviors Questionnaire and the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that sharing own sexts was positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Narcissism. Both risky and aggravated sexting were positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. Conclusions: The present study provided empirical evidence that different sexting behaviors were predicted by Dark Triad Personality Traits, showing a relevant role of Machiavellianism in all kinds of investigated sexting behaviors. Research, clinical, and education implications for prevention programs are discussed.

Attitudes, Risk Factors, and Behaviours of Gambling among Adolescents and Young People: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis

Gambling is occurring in a rapidly changing landscape, with new trends and technologies affecting gambling behaviour and problem gambling across a range of populations. Gambling activity among adolescents and young people has received considerable research attention due to a high prevalence of gambling reported among these groups in recent years. Despite legislation worldwide to constrain gambling among adolescents and young people, modern technology, such as online gaming apps and online gambling venues, has significantly increased their exposure to the risks of problem gambling. It is important, therefore, to have up to date information about what is currently known about gambling and to explore gaps in our knowledge. This gap analysis presents the results of a systematic approach to reviewing the current literature on gambling behaviour, attitudes, and associated risk factors for gambling and problem gambling among adolescents and young adults (aged 10-25 years). The review included studies published between January 2015 and August 2020 and included 85 studies for final synthesis. Findings reveal further research is needed on the implications for young people of emerging technologies and new trends in gambling in the digital age. The current gap analysis reveals that this should include more research on the development and impact of both treatment and intervention strategies, and policy and regulatory frameworks from a public health perspective.

Gambling in Transition: Assessing Youth Narratives of Gambling in Nigeria

Nigeria has witnessed some significant changes in gambling which have resulted in more people becoming interested in the activity. In an attempt to increase participation, bookmakers have introduced a variety of innovations. Literature has established that this increased participation is inter-generational, cross-cultural, and inter-religious. Particularly among Nigerian youth, participation in gambling cuts across all age groups, socio-economic status, and gender. Both financial and social rewards have been identified as reasons why many youths gamble. Through a qualitative lens, this study investigates how the dynamics of gambling in recent times have affected the biographies of youth within a relatively deprived socio-economic locality in Kwara State, Nigeria. Thirty young gamblers between the ages of 15 and 29 were engaged in a semi-structured interview session. Drawing from the meaning of 'youth' from a sociological lexicon, one can advance this unique narrative of the transitions in gambling activities which can occur as a result of the youths' biographies and socio-economic status. Nigerian youth adopt three specific gambling types as a coping strategy in the face of a crisis-ridden socio-economic structure characterised by poverty, and unemployment. As such, gambling has become a normative activity experimented by the youth to survive the harsh economic conditions. This study therefore argues the need to situate the discourse of youth gambling within the social, cultural, and economic context in which they are located in Nigeria. In addition, the authors provide a framework for understanding the complexity of youth gambling in Nigeria.