The psychosocial mechanisms involved in gambling behavior and Gambling Disorder

In an attempt to contribute to the knowledge of psychological processes involved in gambling behaviors, the present dissertation draws on the research strand that highlights the pivotal role of dissociative experiences. Despite the well-documented link between gambling and dissociation, the multifaceted nature of the latter complicates the scenario, and it is still unclear which specific facets of dissociation are more implicated in gambling behavior. Moreover, all previous studies adopted cross-sectional designs, making it difficult to determine whether a tendency toward dissociation favors the onset of gambling, whether gambling fosters dissociative experiences, or if this link is bidirectional. Therefore, this dissertation aims to fill these gaps. Give the lack of measures that explore dissociative-like-feelings among gamblers in the Italian context, the first study was conducted to explore the psychometric qualities of the Jacobs' Dissociative Experience Questions (JDEQ; Jacobs, 1988) in Italy. The JDEQ is a self-report measure that assesses gambling-related dissociative experiences. 517 high school students (74.50% females; Mage = 16.14 ± 1.53) and 228 university students (65.40% females; Mage = 21.60 ± 3.43) were recruited for this study, for a total of 745 participants (71.70% females; Mage = 17.81 ± 3.40). Of these, 257 (51.40% females; Mage = 18.85 ± 3.72) reported gambling in the past year, and the statistical analyses were conducted on this subsample. Results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) indicated a good fit [χ2 = 2.28, df = 2, p = .319; RMSEA = 0.03 (90% C.I. = 0.01–0.08), CFI = 0.99, SRMR = 0.01]. Moreover, full scalar invariance across gender and age was supported and excellent internal consistency was found. Overall, the results showed that gambling primarily involved dissociative mechanisms closely related to the behavior itself rather than a general tendency toward dissociation. The second study aimed to investigate the association between gambling behaviors and gambling-related dissociative experiences beyond other well-known facets of general dissociation. Therefore, a longitudinal study was conducted, with two data collections six months apart (T1 and T2). The initial sample consisted of 395 participants (67.60% females; Mage = 22.20 ± 3.56), with 174 completing both data collections. Of these, 76 (47.40% females; Mage = 24.07 ± 3.82) participants reported gambling at both time points. Hierarchical regression analysis on the subsample of gamblers highlighted that the levels of gambling-related dissociative experiences at T2 were predicted by its counterpart at T1 (β = 0.279, p = .014), the absorption and imaginative involvement dimension of general dissociation at T1 (β = 0.298, p = .037), and initial gambling behavior (β = 0.518, p < .001), with the model explaining 59.70% of the variance. Conversely, gambling behavior at T2 was predicted only by its counterpart at T1 (β = 0.729, p < .001), and the model explained 59.20% of the variance. Overall, results of the present dissertation support the theoretical speculations that gambling behavior predicts dissociative experiences over time, rather than the reverse. Similar to chemical addiction, gambling behaviors appears to possess a dissociative quality. However, limitations related to the use of a convenience, non-clinical sample composed mainly of non-regular gamblers, as well as the short time frame of the second study (6 months), must be acknowledged. Future research with clinical samples and longer assessment periods is needed.