A Comparison of Depression and Styles of Coping in Male and Female GA Members and Controls

“Preliminary data suggest that these scales possess good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity ( Heppner et al., 1995 ).”

“The profile of this subgroup is characteristic of the ‘cluster one’ sample identified in Gonzalez-Ibanez et al.’s (1999) cluster analytical study of 60 male fruit machine gamblers, and of the controlled gamblers in Blaszczynski’s (1988) treatment outcome study.”

“Erroneous Perception or Biased Evaluations Gilovich (1983) investigated factors leading to continued gambling behavior in spite of loosing more than winning.”

“Research suggests, however, that problem youth gamblers use gambling as a means of coping with stress, avoiding or escaping from problems, alleviating boredom, and generating excitement that they perceive is missing from their lives ( Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000; Gupta & Derevensky, 1998a, 1998b, 2000; McCormick, 19…”

“The Escape factor was significantly related to female gender in the current study, a result that is generally consistent with findings reported by others (Brown and Coventry, 1997; Getty et al., 2000).”

“…1998a, b; Marget et al. 1999; Nower et al. 2004b), adults (Blaszczynski and McConaghy 1988; Farrelly et al. 2007; Linden et al. 1986; Turner et al. 2006), college students (Moodie and Finnigan 2006; Stuhldreher et al. 2007), young adults (Feigelman et al. 2006), and GA members (Getty et al. 2000).”

“78) and measure a risk factor for youth problem gambling (Getty et al., 2000; Marget et al., 1999; Nower, 2001).”

“Escape has also been identified as a motivating element in other studies of gambling activities (Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000 ), alcohol consumption (McCreary & Sadava, 1998 ), and leisure activities such as watching TV and listening to music (Hutchinson et al, 2006 ).”

“Notably, it has been found that gambling problems are associated with poor coping skills (Sharpe and Tarrier, 1993; Getty et al., 2000; Scannell et al., 2000; Shepherd and Dickerson, 2001).”

“Coping strategies have been widely explored in different areas akin to this phenomenon that include impulse control disorders such as pathological gambling [25,26], eating disorders [27], and alcoholism [28].”

“It has previously been shown that leisure activities are sometimes approached in order to escape negative self‐awareness (Stenseng, Rise, & Kraft, 2010 ), which is a typical aspect of addictive behaviours such as substance abuse (Ball, 2005 ; McCreary & Sadava, 1998 ) and pathological gambling (Getty, Watson, & Frisch…”

“Female problem gamblers have significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety than the general female population and male problem gamblers ( Getty, Watson & Frisch, 2000; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987).”

“This quote is eerily reminiscent of the description of slots gamblers who gamble to escape the depressing realities of their day-to-day lives (Abbot and Volberg 1996; Getty et al. 2000).”

“Some researchers did not find differences in terms of sex between PG and comorbidities [24], but others suggested that women had a higher risk of other psychiatric disorders, such as mood disorders [37–39], generalized anxiety, alcohol dependence, and use and abuse of drugs [40].”

“This permissiveness encourages researchers to consider investigations of the relationships between gambling and gender and increasingly researchers are doing this with vigor (e.g., Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000; Grant & Kim, 2002; Hing & Breen, 2001; Hraba & Lee, 1996; McDaniel & Zuckerman, 2003; Potenza et al., 2001).”

“In addition to elevated stressor experiences, as well as altered coping styles or strategies (Bergevin et al. 2006; Getty et al. 2000; Wohl et al. 2006), gambling problems may be comorbid with impulsivity (Clarke 2004), which may itself contribute to gambling severity as well as to behavioral and psychological disturb…”

“Getty et al. (2000) found that female GA members reported significantly higher levels of depression and maladaptive coping than their male counterparts.”

“Pathological gamblers frequently score higher on measures of avoidant or emotion-based coping (Getty et al. 2000; Gupta et al. 2004) which suggests that they may use gambling as a way to deal with their problems rather than through adopting problem or solution-focused coping strategies (Kuley and…”

“decrease the use of adaptive coping strategies (Getty et al., 2000); are associated with longer time to achieve stable abstinenc (Hodgins et al.”

“Consistent evidence of a relationship between gambling problems and cognitive escape (Biddle et al. 2005; Getty et al. 2000; New Focus Research 2003; Thomas and Moore 2003) has led to this factor being given a central platform in various”

“The PF-SOC has been used to assess for problem solving in adults in a number of recent studies ( Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000; Neville, Heppner, & Wang, 1997; Srivastava & Sager, 1999; Taco ´ n, McComb, Caldera, & Randolph, 2003).”

“In addition to gambling-specific approach, treatment interventions for women may require additional skill training in emotional regulation and coping in order to maximize positive outcomes (Getty et al. 2000).”

“…part of the enjoyment of gambling (and indeed the dark flow state) may involve the prevention of ruminating on depressive thoughts (Abbott & Volberg, 1996; Beaudoin & Cox, 1999; Blaszczynski & McConaghy, 1989; Blaszczynski & Nower, 2002; Brown & Coventry, 1997; Getty et al., 2000; Jacobs, 1988).”

“Thus, college recreational gamblers who endorsed these general and gambling-specific beliefs were more likely to engage in problem gambling such as persisting in gambling despite losses; and felt agitated, anxious, frustrated, and depressed when the perceived destined outcome of winning did not occur ( Getty et al. 20…”

“Hence, escape through gambling may be a coping mechanism that is preferred by women (Blaszczynski and Nower 2002; Getty et al. 2000), whereas men gamble more for arousal, financial reasons and pleasure (Coman et al. 1997).”

“Furthermore, depression, loneliness, and other unpleasant affective experiences hypothesized as motivators for pathological gambling are not considered universal ( Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000 ; Trevorrow & Moore, 1998 ).”

“…as a preventive measure before treatment, particularly for women given the particularly strong links between trauma and gambling problems in women and female-predominant tendencies to gamble as an escape from negative emotions (Getty et al., 2000; Petry and Steinberg, 2005; Dion et al., 2010).”

“In the specific case of pathological gambling, a relationship between coping and depression has been found (Farrelly et al. 2007; Getty et al. 2000), as higher degrees of depression are associated with more gambling-related problems and more coping motivation aimed at gambling behavior (Takamatsu…”

“This initial analysis supported prior research findings (e.g., Becoña et al., 1996; Getty et al., 2000; Ohtsuka et al., 1997), suggesting that avoidance coping and dysphoria are important variables associated with problem gambling for both males and females.”

“Other studies have also found that women are more likely to use gambling as a way to cope (e.g., Getty et al. 2000).”

“Getty et al. (2000) found that women in GA have higher rates of depression than men.”

“And given the (limited) evidence suggesting that women with gambling-related problems may be particularly prone to comorbid mental illness and other related issues and complex needs (Blanco et al. 2006; Desai and Potenza 2008; Thomas and Moore 2001; Getty et al. 2000), investigating these concerns for women is critica…”

“In recent years, increasing attention has been given to emotion dysregulation as a potentially common feature of many forms of addiction (23), including substance addictions such as smoking, alcohol, or drugs (24-26), and behavioral addictions such as risky sexual behaviors (27,28), gambling addiction (29-31), video g…”

“While the PF-SOC does not directly assess rumination in the sense of the Response Style Theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), the results hint at the importance of rumination, especially brooding, in SPG, as the reactive and reflective coping styles measured with the PF-SOC show resemblance with the brooding and reflection s…”

“Given the substantial comorbidity of PG with major depression (Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000) in conjunction with cocaine (Konkoly Thege, Hodgins, & Wild, 2016) and alcohol (Petry, Stinson, & Grant, 2005) dependence, however, implementing these as exclusion factors would have ruled out a high…”

“More recently, as reported in Table 1, increased reports of depressive symptoms were found in 30 Gamblers Anonymous (GA) adults when compared to 30 controls from the community ( Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000 ).”

“…inefficient coping strategies to alleviate or to avoid negative emotions (including symptoms of depression); results also indicate that, in pathological gamblers, inadequate coping strategies are correlated with greater depressive symptom severity (Blaszczynski and Nower 2002; Getty et al. 2000).”

“A number of authors have suggested that gambling provides an escape from, or regulation of, negative mood states (Blaszczynski & McConaghy, 1989; Getty et al., 2000).”

“Escape from personal pressures, boredom, loneliness, social isolation, and depression are commonly cited reasons for gambling problems among females (Getty et al., 2000).”

“Underlying this relation, it appears that a subset of problem gamblers may use gambling as a way to self-medicate their depressive symptomology (Abbott & Volberg, 1996; Blaszczynski et al., 1990; Getty et al., 2000; Blaszczynski & Nower, 2002; Griffiths & Auer, 2013, Dixon et al., 2017, 2019a, 2019b).”

“Notably, women gamblers commonly report using gambling as an escape from loneliness and depression (Getty et al., 2000; Trevorrow and Moore, 1998).”

“individuals may gamble as a means of coping with painful events in their lives (Smith & wynne, 2004) or negative mood, which over time may intensify leading to greater levels of gambling (getty et al., 2000).”

“Gambling results from a need to cope with painful emotional experiences, a process that has also been found in depressed gamblers (Brown & Coventry, 1997; Getty et al., 2000).”

“Included studies show that women who attend GA are more likely to have co-morbidities in terms of mental health problems (Getty et al. 2000).”

“Broadly, the current findings are consistent with pre-pandemic research that identified psychosocial disruption (e.g., poor social support) and past gambling frequency as robust predictors of problem gambling severity (Getty et al., 2000; Williams et al., 2021).”

“For instance, excessive internet use in individuals with PIU may be a coping mechanism to alleviate distress associated with co-occurring psychopathology (9) as is seen in excessive gambling (52) and compulsive sexual behavior (53).”

“There is evidence that problems related to gambling, for some, may be linked with an inability to deal effectively with negative emotions or stressful life events (Getty, Watson, & Frisch, 2000; Rubin, Stout, & Longabaugh, 1996).”