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Using the Risk-Return Model to Explain Gambling Disorder Symptoms in Youth: An Empirical Investigation with Italian Adolescents

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Abstract

Historically, individual differences research has sought to explain problem-gambling severity in adolescence by means of unitary “risk-taking” traits, such as sensation seeking and impulsivity, implying that these personality traits account for risk-taking tendencies across different types of behaviors and situations. However, increasing empirical evidence suggests that risk taking seems to be better conceptualized as a domain-specific construct. In the current study, we adopted a psychological risk-return framework, which posits that perceptions of perceived risks and benefits predict gambling risk attitudes, which in turn, account for variance in Gambling Disorder (GD) symptoms in adolescents. The study involved 296 Italian adolescents (68% boys, Mage = 17.76, SD = 1.17). Participants completed the risk-taking, risk perception, and expected benefits scales from the Adolescent Domain Specific Risk Taking (DOSPERT) scale (Barkley-Levenson et al. in Dev Cognitive Neurosci 3: 72–83, 2013), as well as the Gambling Behavior Scale for Adolescents (GBS-A; as reported (Primi et al. in Gambling Behavior Scale for Adolescents in, Hogrefe, Florence, 2015) were administered. Consistent with predictions, risk-taking scores for the Gambling domain predicted adolescent gambling outcomes, relative to the other DOSPERT risk-domains (Ethical, Health/Safety, Recreational, Social). Additionally, we found that greater Gambling risk perceptions were associated with lower risk-taking scores, whereas greater perceived expected benefits were associated with higher risk-taking scores. Moreover, we found significant indirect effects between perceived risks and benefits and problem-gambling severity, mediated via Gambling risk-taking scores, though expected benefits demonstrated a stronger indirect effect. These results have important implications for practice as they emphasize that specific interventions aimed at preventing problem gambling in adolescents should address their perceptions about gambling benefits.

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Notes

  1. This test was conducted following the formula provided by Steiger (1980). The correlation between Risk-Taking in the Gambling domain and Risk-Taking in the Health-Safety domain was .40 (p < .001), while the correlation between Risk-Taking in the Gambling domain and Risk-Taking in the Ethical domain was .36 (p < .001).

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Correspondence to Maria Anna Donati.

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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Appendix

Appendix

Instructions for the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Adolescent’s Scale – Risk-Taking Scale

Each of the following statements describes a risky situation. Imagine yourself in these situations. Then, tell us how likely you would be to do the activity or behavior that is described. Please do this by circling one of the seven ratings below each question ranging from Extremely unlikely (1) to Extremely likely (7).

Instructions for the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Adolescent’s Scale – Risk Perception Scale

We asked how likely you would be to do the activities or behaviors described in each of the situations. Now we are interested in how risky you feel each situation or behavior is. In other words, we want you to give a rating based on your gut feeling of how risky each situation or behavior is. Please do this by circling one of the seven ratings below each question ranging from Not at all risky (1) to Extremely risky (7).

Instructions for the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Adolescent’s Scale – Expected Benefits Scale

Now we are interested in how much you would benefit from each situation or behavior. In other words, how much would each situation or behavior make your life better in some way? Please provide a rating by circling one of the seven ratings below each question ranging from No benefits at all (1) to Great benefits (7).

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Donati, M.A., Weller, J. & Primi, C. Using the Risk-Return Model to Explain Gambling Disorder Symptoms in Youth: An Empirical Investigation with Italian Adolescents. J Gambl Stud 37, 779–794 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-020-09992-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-020-09992-9

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