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One-Year Prospective Study on Passion and Gambling Problems in Poker Players

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Abstract

The concept of passion is relevant to understanding gambling behaviours and gambling problems. Longitudinal studies are useful to better understand the absence and development of gambling problems; however, only one study has specifically considered poker players. Using a longitudinal design, this study aims to determine the influence, 1 year later, of two forms of passion—harmonious and obsessive—on gambling problems in poker players. A total of 116 poker players was recruited from across Quebec, Canada. The outcome variable of interest was participants’ category on the Canadian Pathological Gambling Index, and the predictive variable was the Gambling Passion Scale. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify independent risk factors of at-risk poker players 1 year later. Obsessive passion at baseline doubled the risk of gambling problems 1 year later (p < 0.01); for harmonious passion, there was no association. Number of gambling activities, drug problems, and impulsivity were also associated with at-risk gambling. This study highlights the links between obsessive passion and at-risk behaviours among poker players. It is therefore important to prevent the development of obsessive passion among poker players.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the all participants that collaborated in this study and all members of the research team. Finally, the authors would like to thank Sylvie Gauthier and Eva Monson for the linguistic revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Campus de Longueuil 150 Place Charles-Le Moyne, bureau 200, Longueuil, QC, J4K 0A8, Canada

    Adèle Morvannou, Magali Dufour, Djamal Berbiche & Élise Roy

  2. Département de psychoéducation, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Local 1064c pavillon Michel-Sarrazin, 3351 boulevard des Forges, C.P.500, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 5H7, Canada

    Natacha Brunelle

  3. Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Élise Roy

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  1. Adèle Morvannou
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  2. Magali Dufour
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  4. Djamal Berbiche
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Correspondence to Adèle Morvannou.

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Authors do not have any financial or personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence their work.

Human and Animal Rights

This research was supported by the founding agency Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture under Grant <2012-JU-164313>. The redaction of this article was supported by a redaction Grant from the Institut Universitaire sur les Dépendances. The study was approved by the Comité d’éthique de la recherche des Lettres et Sciences Humaines de l’université de Sherbrooke (N/Réf. 2014-79/Morvannou/). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants 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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Morvannou, A., Dufour, M., Brunelle, N. et al. One-Year Prospective Study on Passion and Gambling Problems in Poker Players. J Gambl Stud 34, 379–391 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9706-2

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