Not “just for fun”: Gambling, substance use, and the transdiagnostic role of emotion regulation

Figures & data

Table 1. Correlations among addiction scores and emotion regulation

		1	2	3	4	5	6
1	FTND	-
2	AUDIT	.300**
3	DUDIT	.156**	.250**
4	DERS-18 total	.066	.168**	.054
5	Money Gambled	.089	.037	.059	.111*
6	Hours Gambled	.085	.135**	.066	.119*	.389**
7	SOGS	.087	.199**	.168**	.392**	.322**	.430**

Note: FTND = Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence; AUDIT = Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; DUDIT = Drug Use Disorders Identification Test; DERS = Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; Money Gambled = highest self-reported sum of money gambled per week; Hours Gambled = highest number of self-reported hours spent gambling per week.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics by addiction group

	Multiple addictions	Gambling only	SUDs only	Nonclinical
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Age	34.46(10.08)	37.68(10.71)	36.22(10.07)	35.63(10.62)
SOGS	9.03(3.30)	8.84(3.17)	1.97(1.47)	1.49(1.40)
FTND	5.03(2.67)	.09(.36)	4.75(2.05)	.15(.15)
AUDIT	4.17(4.58)	1.33(1.59)	2.32(3.34)	.87(1.31)
DUDIT	1.71(4.75)	.02(.14)	.39(1.37)	0.01(0.01)
DERS-18	49.51(12.88)	47.02(10.40)	40.33(8.44)	38.80(9.40)
Gender composition	M = 56 F = 16	M = 63 F = 34	M = 63 F = 14	M = 78 F = 73

Note: DERS-18 = Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; Nonclinical = participants not meeting screening cutoff criteria for either gambling pathology or any of the Substance Use Disorders assessed; SUDS only = participants meeting screening cutoff criteria for at least one of the Substance Use Disorders assessed but not for gambling pathology; Gambling only = participants meeting screening cutoff criteria for gambling pathology but not for any of the Substance Use Disorders assessed.

Table 3. Multinomial logistic regression showing odds of being classified in a specific addictions group, with DERS-18 strategies and gender as predictors

Multiple addictions group as reference
	B		SE	Wald	df	p	Exp(B)	95% CI
								Lower	Upper
Nonclinical	Awareness	−.16	.07	5.02	1	.025	.86	.75	.98
	Clarity	−.10	.09	1.24	1	.265	.91	.77	1.08
	Goals	.01	.08	.01	1	.924	1.01	.86	1.18
	Impulse	−.22	.09	6.14	1	.013	.81	.68	.96
	Nonacceptance	−.20	.09	5.42	1	.020	.82	.69	.97
	Strategies	−.10	.10	.99	1	.321	.91	.74	1.10
	Gender	1.32	.37	12.90	1	.001	3.72	1.82	7.60
Gambling only	Awareness	−.08	.07	1.26	1	.262	.92	.80	1.06
	Clarity	−.02	.08	.09	1	.759	.98	.83	1.14
	Goals	.02	.08	.08	1	.784	1.02	.87	1.20
	Impulse	−.14	.08	3.01	1	.083	.87	.74	1.02
	Nonacceptance	−.105	.08	1.42	1	.234	.91	.78	1.06
	Strategies	.10	.10	1.15	1	.284	1.11	.92	1.34
	Gender	.60	.37	2.69	1	.101	1.82	.89	3.73
SUDS only	Awareness	−.16	.08	4.73	1	.030	.85	.73	.94
	Clarity	.04	.09	.22	1	.642	1.04	.87	1.25
	Goals	.01	.09	.01	1	.945	1.01	.85	1.19
	Impulse	−.22	.10	5.10	1	.024	.81	.67	.97
	Nonacceptance	−.14	.09	2.42	1	.120	.87	.72	1.04
	Strategies	−.12	.11	1.10	1	.295	.89	.72	1.11
	Gender	−.18	.43	.16	1	.687	.84	.36	1.97
	Gambling only as reference
Nonclinical	Awareness	−.08	.06	1.85	1	.174	.93	.83	1.03
	Clarity	−.07	.08	.87	1	.351	.93	.80	1.08
	Goals	−.01	.07	.04	1	.833	.98	.86	1.13
	Impulse	−.07	.08	.83	1	.362	.93	.80	1.09
	Nonacceptance	−.10	.08	1.81	1	.179	.90	.78	1.05
	Strategies	−.20	.09	5.26	1	.022	.82	.69	.97
	Gender	.71	.30	5.83	1	.016	2.04	1.14	3.64
SUDS only	Awareness	−.09	.07	1.71	1	.191	.92	.81	1.04
	Clarity	.07	.09	.63	1	.428	1.07	.91	1.26
	Goals	−.02	.08	.04	1	.836	.98	.85	1.15
	Impulse	−.07	.09	.64	1	.425	.93	.78	1.11
	Nonacceptance	−.05	.08	.29	1	.593	.96	.81	1.13
	Strategies	−.22	.10	4.58	1	.032	.80	.66	.98
	Gender	−.77	.38	4.17	1	.041	.46	.22	.97

Note: DERS-18= Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; Nonclinical = participants not meeting screening cutoff criteria for either gambling pathology or any of the Substance Use Disorders assessed; SUDS only = participants meeting screening cutoff criteria for at least one of the Substance Use Disorders assessed but not for gambling pathology; Gambling only = participants meeting screening cutoff criteria for gambling pathology but not for any of the Substance Use Disorders assessed. Gender coding, 1 = male, 2 = female.