Abstract
Family studies can provide a wealth of information regarding risk factors in psychological disorders. No studies have compared the trauma experiences and coping strategies of problem gamblers with those of their first-degree relatives. Therefore, in this study, childhood trauma and coping strategies were investigated among participants with gambling disorder, their first-degree biological relatives, and community controls. Participants completed diagnostic interviews and symptom severity assessments. Participants also completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) which assesses history of abuse and neglect, and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) which assesses task, emotion, and avoidance oriented coping strategies. Analysis of variance showed that there was a significant effect for group, but not gender, on the CTQ. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant effect for group on coping style. Post-hoc tests showed that probands and relatives were less likely to use task-oriented coping compared to controls, but probands and relatives did not differ from each other on task-oriented coping. Mediation analysis showed that task-oriented coping did not mediate the relation between childhood trauma and gambling severity. By using a family study design, this study was able for the first time to delineate familial and disease-specific effects associated with childhood trauma and coping strategies in gambling disorder.
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Due to the sensitive nature of the questions asked in this study, survey respondents were assured raw data would remain confidential and would not be shared.
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Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the Gambling Family Study of Clinical and Cognitive Functioning (Alberta Gambling Research Institute Grant 68). VMG was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award. The funding agencies had no role in the study design, interpretation, or manuscript preparation and submission.
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Goghari, V.M., Shakeel, M.K., Swan, J.L. et al. A Family Study of Trauma and Coping Strategies in Gambling Disorder. J Gambl Stud 36, 767–782 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-020-09963-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-020-09963-0