The goal of the current research design was to determine whether childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor in the development of gambling problems. Moreover, the aim was to address the cumulative effects of risk factors by assessing a broader range of adversities from a developmental psychopathology perspective. This study included 1,324 young adults (42.8% males; 57.2% females) attending college, with ages ranging from 17 to 22 years. Participants completed self-report measures on gambling and substance use problems, childhood maltreatment, psychological symptomology, stress, and resilience. Approximately 36.5% of the sample met criteria for a substance use disorder, 4.0% reported problems with gambling and substance use, and 2.1% were problem gamblers. Problem gamblers and individuals with substance related problems reported the overall highest levels of childhood maltreatment, psychological symptomology, stress, and lowest levels of resilience. Gender (being male), high stress, and childhood maltreatment accurately predicted gambling group membership (76.7%). Importance of childhood maltreatment as a risk factor in conjunction with other variables supported the hypothesis regarding the cumulative effects of adversity and was well able to predict future outcomes at 82%. No single risk factor differentiated between the problem gamblers from the problem substance users. The results of this study highlight the substantial interrelation between childhood abuse and other negative circumstances that increase the risk for general addiction group and problem gambling group membership. This study underscores the importance of routine assessment for childhood trauma in individuals presenting for gambling and substance use treatment and provides an important facet toward our understanding of problem gambling.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.100360 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Felsher, Jennifer R. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.) |
| Rights | © Jennifer R. Felsher, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002479737, proquestno: AAINR25142, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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