Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Validation of the Gambling Motives Questionnaire in Emerging Adults

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Gambling Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

People engage in gambling behaviour for a variety of different reasons, some of which are riskier than others in terms of associations with heavy and problem gambling. Stewart and Zack (Addiction 103:1110–1117, 2008) developed a measure called the Gambling Motives Questionnaire (GMQ) that assesses levels of three distinct gambling motives: enhancement (to increase positive emotions), coping (to decrease negative emotions), and social (to increase affiliation). While this measure has been validated in a community-recruited sample of middle-aged gamblers, the GMQ has yet to be validated in emerging adulthood (ages 18–25 years)—a developmental period associated with increased risk for heavy and problematic gambling. The current project tested the psychometric properties of the GMQ in a community sample of emerging adult gamblers using archival data from the Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults. Participants (N = 487; 73.9 % Caucasian; 52.6 % female; mean age 22.23 years) completed the GMQ and questionnaire measures of gambling behaviour and problems. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that a three-factor model adequately fit the data; however, problematic items were identified. A modified 9-item version of the GMQ with the problem items removed fit the data well. Both the original 15-item and the 9-item versions had acceptable subscale alpha reliabilities (αs >.78). While all three subscales (from both the 9-item and 15-item versions) were positively correlated with problem gambling, only enhancement motives emerged as a significant independent predictor when the other motives and gambling behaviours were entered as simultaneous predictors. These results suggest the GMQ is a valid measure for tapping motives in emerging adults, and that high enhancement motives are particularly predictive of gambling problems in this developmental period. Future intervention efforts might specifically target enhancement motives in emerging adults.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Milosevic and Ledgerwood (2010) actually use Blaszczynski and Nower’s (2002) terms of behaviourally conditioned, emotionally vulnerable, and antisocial impulsivist to represent what Stewart and Zack (2008) call social, coping, and enhancement motives for gambling, respectively. Because the present paper focuses on Stewart and Zack’s (2008) model, we use their terminology throughout the paper. However, many other terms to describe these distinct motives for gambling are currently in use (Milosevic and Ledgerwood 2010).

  2. In all cases where winsorizing was used, analyses did not change substantially when the outliers were left in the dataset untransformed.

  3. All significant predictors in Tables 3 and 4 remain significant when sex was added as a covariate. Moreover, sex was a significant independent predictor of gambling problems (i.e., men gambled more than women), accounting for an additional 1–4 % of the variance over and above the three gambling behaviours and the three gambling motives.

  4. However, the large confidence interval of this estimate in Table 4 suggests that this estimate of effect size is imprecise when measurement error is accounted for in the latent variable model, so readers are cautioned not to interpret this larger effect size substantively when compared to the 15-item GMQ.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association (APA). (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association (APA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. doi:10.1037//0003-066X.55.5.469.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bayram, N., & Bilgel, N. (2008). The prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress among a group of university students. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43, 667–672. doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0345-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bewick, B., Koutsopoulou, G., Miles, J., Slaa, E., & Barkham, M. (2010). Changes in undergraduate students’ psychological well-being as they progress through university. Studies in Higher Education, 35, 633–645. doi:10.1080/03075070903216643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaszczynski, A., & Nower, L. (2002). A pathways model of problem and pathological gambling. Addiction, 97, 487–499.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bonnaire, C., Bungener, C., & Varescon, I. (2009). Subtypes of French pathological gamblers: Comparison of sensation seeking, alexithymia, and depression scores. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25, 455–471. doi:10.1007/s10899-009-9142-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1998). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comeau, N., Stewart, S. H., & Loba, P. (2001). The relations of anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety, and sensation seeking to adolescents’ motivations for alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Addictive Behaviors, 26, 803–825.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conrod, P. J., Castellanos-Ryan, N., & Mackie, C. (2011). Long-term effects of a personality-targeted intervention to reduce alcohol use in adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 296–306. doi:10.1037/a0022997.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conrod, P. J., Stewart, S. H., Comeau, N., & Maclean, A. M. (2006). Efficacy of cognitive–behavioral interventions targeting personality risk factors for youth alcohol misuse. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 550–563.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, M. L., Russell, M., Skinner, J. B., & Windle, M. (1992). Development and validation of a three dimensional measure of drinking motives. Psychological Assessment, 4, 123–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 10, 1–9. http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=10&n=7

  • Currie, S. R., Hodgins, D. C., & Casey, D. M. (2013). Validity of the Problem Gambling Severity Index interpretative categories. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29, 311–327. doi:10.1007/s10899-012-9300-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dechant, K., & Ellery, M. (2011). The effect of including a monetary motive item on the Gambling Motives Questionnaire in a sample of moderate gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 27, 331–344. doi:10.1007/s10899-010-9197-x.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Enders, C. K., & Bandalos, D. L. (2001). The relative performance of full information maximum likelihood estimation for missing data in structural equation models. Structural Equation Modeling, 8, 430–457. doi:10.1207/S15328007SEM0803_5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, J., & Wynne, H. (2001). The Canadian Problem Gambling Index: Final report. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, A. L., Stewart, S. H., Hoaken, P. N. S., & Flett, G. L. (2013). Mood, motives, and gambling in young adults: An examination of within- and between-person variations using experience sampling. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors [E-pub ahead of print]. doi:10.1037/a0033001.

  • Griffiths, M. (2004). Betting your life on it: Problem gambling has clear health related consequences. British Medical Journal, 329, 1055–1056. doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7474.1055.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hilbe, J. M. (2nd Ed.). (2011). Negative binomial regression. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Holtgraves, T. (2009). Evaluating the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25, 105–120. doi:10.1007/s10899-008-9107-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, A., Grant, J. E., Kim, S. W., Odlaug, B. L., & Götestam, K. G. (2009). Risk factors for problematic gambling: A critical review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25, 67–92. doi:10.1007/s10899-008-9088-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Hwang, I., LaBrie, R., Petukhova, M., Sampson, N. A., Winters, K. C., et al. (2008). The prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV pathological gambling in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Psychological Medicine, 38, 1351–1360. doi:10.1017/S0033291708002900.

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., & Üstün, T. B. (2004). The world mental health (WMH) survey initiative version of the world health organization (WHO) composite international diagnostic interview (CIDI). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13, 93–121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keyes, C. L., Eisenberg, D., Perry, G. S., Dube, S. R., Kroenke, K., & Dhingra, S. S. (2012). The relationship of level of positive mental health with current mental disorders in predicting suicidal behavior and academic impairment in college students. Journal of American College Health, 60, 126–133. doi:10.1080/07448481.2011.608393.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, S. M., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2004). Childhood externalizing and internalizing psychopathology in the prediction of early substance use. Addiction, 99, 1548–1559.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsche, E., & Kuntsche, S. (2009). Development and validation of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised Short Form (DMQ-R-SF). Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 38, 899–908. doi:10.1080/15374410903258967.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ledgerwood, D. M., & Petry, N. M. (2006). Psychological experience of gambling and subtypes of pathological gamblers. Psychiatry Research, 144, 17–27. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2005.08.017.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ledgerwood, D. M., & Petry, N. M. (2010). Subtyping pathological gamblers based on impulsivity, depression, and anxiety. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 24, 680–688. doi:10.1037/a0019906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesieur, H. R., & Blume, S. (1987). The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS): A new instrument for the identification of pathological gamblers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 1184–1188.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Manitoba Gaming Control Commission, Manitoba Lotteries Corporation, & Addictions Foundation of Manitoba. (2011). Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults [data file and codebook obtained through the MLSYA Data Access Program]. Winnipeg, MB.

  • McGrath, D. S., Stewart, S. H., Klein, R. M., & Barrett, S. P. (2010). Self-generated motives for gambling in two population-based samples of gamblers. International Gambling Studies, 10, 117–138. doi:10.1080/14459795.2010.499915.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milosevic, A., & Ledgerwood, D. M. (2010). The subtyping of pathological gambling: A comprehensive review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 988–998. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.06.013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moran, E. (1970). Varieties of pathological gambling. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 593–597.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nower, L., & Blaszczynski, A. (2010). Gambling motivations, money-limiting strategies, and precommitment preferences of problem versus non-problem gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26, 361–372. doi:10.1007/s10899-009-9170-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rockloff, M. J., & Dyer, V. (2006). The four Es of problem gambling: A psychological measure of risk. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22, 101–120. doi:10.1007/s10899-005-9005-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, H. J., & Hall, M. N. (2001). Updating and refining prevalence estimates of disordered gambling behaviour in the United States and Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 92, 168–172.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sowell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., Holmes, C. J., Jernigan, T. L., & Toga, A. W. (1999). In vivo evidence for post-adolescent brain maturation in frontal and striatal regions. Nature Neuroscience, 2, 859–861.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, S. H., Demetrioff, S., Ellery, M., & Wohl, M. (2011). The role of gambling motives in university student gambling behavior and problems [Summary]. Canadian Psychology, 52(2a), 181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, S. H., & Zack, M. (2008). Development and psychometric evaluation of a three dimensional Gambling Motives Questionnaire. Addiction, 103, 1110–1117. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02235.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, S. H., Zack, M., Collins, P., Klein, R. M., & Fragopoulos, F. (2008). Subtyping pathological gamblers on the basis of affective motivations for gambling: Relations to gambling problems, drinking problems, and affective motivations for drinking. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22, 257–268. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.22.2.257.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2011). Using multivariate statistics. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N. E., Jain, U., Spence, W., & Zangeneh, M. (2008). Pathways to pathological gambling: Component analysis of variables related to pathological gambling. International Gambling Studies, 8, 281–298. doi:10.1080/14459790802405905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vachon, D. D., & Bagby, R. M. (2009). Pathological gambling subtypes. Psychological Assessment, 21, 608–615. doi:10.1037/a0016846.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Welte, J. W., Barnes, G. M., Tidwell, M. C., & Hoffman, J. H. (2008). The prevalence of problem gambling among U.S. adolescents and young adults: Results from a national survey. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24, 119–133. doi:10.1007/s10899-007-9086-0.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, R. J., Connolly, D., Wood, R. T., & Nowatzki, N. (2006). Gambling and problem gambling in a sample of university students. Journal of Gambling Issues, 16, 1–14. doi:10.4309/jgi.2006.16.19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1993). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: Diagnostic criteria for research. Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wynne, H. (2003). Introducing the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. Edmonton, AB: Wynne Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M. (1974). The sensation seeking motive. In B. A. Maher (Ed.), Progress in experimental personality research (Vol. 7, pp. 79–148). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by an operating grant from the Manitoba Gambling Research Program (MGRP) of Manitoba Lotteries awarded to Sherry H. Stewart and Sean P. Mackinnon; however, the findings and conclusions of this paper are those solely of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Manitoba Lotteries. The Manitoba Gaming Control Commission, the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation, and the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba graciously permitted the researchers access to the Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults (MLSYA) dataset. Sean P. Mackinnon was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Laura Lambe was supported by a summer studentship from the Faculty of Science Summer Studentship program at Dalhousie University. Pam Collins and Jennifer Swansburg are thanked for their research assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Life Sciences Centre, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, B3H 4R2, NS, Canada

    Laura Lambe, Sean P. Mackinnon & Sherry H. Stewart

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, 5909 Veteran’s Memorial Lane, Halifax, B3H 2E2, NS, Canada

    Sean P. Mackinnon & Sherry H. Stewart

Authors
  1. Laura Lambe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sean P. Mackinnon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sherry H. Stewart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sherry H. Stewart.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lambe, L., Mackinnon, S.P. & Stewart, S.H. Validation of the Gambling Motives Questionnaire in Emerging Adults. J Gambl Stud 31, 867–885 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9467-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9467-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation