Mothers and daughters: A hidden picture in gambling research

Background: Although gambling is more common among males, in recent years an increasing proportion of both young and adult females gamble and encounter problems. However, there is still little literature on this topic and the relationship between gambling behavior of mothers and their daughters is still unexplored. Thus, an update of research about this phenomenon is needed. Our goal was to analyze gambling behavior among mothers and their daughters and relationships between the behaviors. Methods: Participants were 480 mothers (mean age= 47.05, SD = 5.48). Among them, 251 have a daughter (mean age= 15.55, SD = .62) attending high school in Italy. Both mothers and daughters completed an online survey regarding gambling behavior, implemented inside a preventive intervention program (PRIZE). Mothers filled out an ad hoc behavioral sheet, and daughters completed the Gambling Behavior Scale – For Adolescents (GBS-A; Primi et al., 2015). Results: More than half (61%) of mothers gambled, and 9% of them were regular gamblers. The most practiced activities were scratch cards, lotteries, and bingo. About daughters, 64% were gamblers, and the most practiced gambling activities were bingo, scratch cards, and card betting money. Regarding the relationship between mothers and daughters’ behavior, a significant and positive relationship was found concerning gambling frequency. Moreover, significant positive relationships were found between frequencies of the most played games, such as scratch cards and lotteries. Conclusions: Reflections about gambling behavior in the family context and advices regarding gambling behavior in female are derived.