Gambling attitudes and beliefs associated with problem gambling: the cohort effect of Baby Boomers

Abstract

Recreational and problem gamblers alike hold beliefs about gambling that are dysfunctional. These dysfunctional beliefs have been theorized to play a role in problem gambling behaviour. The current study sought to examine the effects of gambling attitudes and beliefs on problem gambling behaviour across three cohorts. A sample of 308 participants consisted of 101 individuals from Generation X, 139 from the Baby Boom cohort and 68 from the Silent Generation. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that for Baby Boomers, higher scores on scales measuring beliefs about luck and illusions of control were associated with higher scores on measures of problem gambling than for the Silent Generation. Generation X’s higher scores on luck scales were associated with higher scores in problem gambling than the Baby Boom cohort. Attitudes associated with problem gambling did not differ among cohorts. These results suggest that while cohorts may not differ in types or levels of distorted beliefs, they differ in how such distortions relate to problem gambling. Future research should focus on determining whether such cohort effects are indicative of differences within the development and maintenance of problem gambling itself.

Keywords:

• gambling
• beliefs
• attitudes
• problem gambling
• age

Acknowledgements

Most of the analyses and ideas reported here are based on a thesis submitted by Jessica Tanner in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology), Lakehead University, 2014. A portion of these results were also presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, ON, June 2015 and the Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology in October 2015. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr John Jamieson, Dr Christopher Mushquash and Dr Rupert Klein for their comments and suggestions. Furthermore, we are grateful to CARP (formerly known as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons), the Thunder Bay 55 Plus Centre and the Thunder Bay Country Market for their help in the recruitment of participants.

Conflicts of interest

Funding sources: The first author gratefully acknowledges support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in the form of a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Graduate Scholarship, as well as from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship programme. Dwight Mazmanian has received previous research support from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.

Competing interests

None.

Constraints on publishing

None.