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Latent Class Analysis of Gambling Activities in a Sample of Young Swiss Men: Association with Gambling Problems, Substance Use Outcomes, Personality Traits and Coping Strategies

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Abstract

The study aimed to identify different patterns of gambling activities (PGAs) and to investigate how PGAs differed in gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. A representative sample of 4989 young Swiss males completed a questionnaire assessing seven distinct gambling activities, gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. PGAs were identified using latent class analysis (LCA). Differences between PGAs in gambling and substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies were tested. LCA identified six different PGAs. With regard to gambling and substance use outcomes, the three most problematic PGAs were extensive gamblers, followed by private gamblers, and electronic lottery and casino gamblers, respectively. By contrast, the three least detrimental PGAs were rare or non-gamblers, lottery only gamblers and casino gamblers. With regard to personality traits, compared with rare or non-gamblers, private and casino gamblers reported higher levels of sensation seeking. Electronic lottery and casino gamblers, private gamblers and extensive gamblers had higher levels of aggression-hostility. Extensive and casino gamblers reported higher levels of sociability, whereas casino gamblers reported lower levels of anxiety–neuroticism. Extensive gamblers used more maladaptive and less adaptive coping strategies than other groups. Results suggest that gambling is not a homogeneous activity since different types of gamblers exist according to the PGA they are engaged in. Extensive gamblers, electronic and casino gamblers and private gamblers may have the most problematic PGAs. Personality traits and coping skills may predispose individuals to PGAs associated with more or less negative outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (FN 33CSC0-122679 and FN 33CS30-139467). We are grateful to Charlotte Eidenbenz for her extensive efforts in the coordination of this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

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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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Av. Beaumont 21 Bis, Pavillon 2, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Joseph Studer, Jean-Bernard Daeppen & Gerhard Gmel

  2. Life Course and Social Inequality Research Centre, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Stéphanie Baggio

  3. Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Meichun Mohler-Kuo

  4. Centre for Excessive Gambling, Community Psychiatry Service, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Olivier Simon

  5. Addiction Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Gerhard Gmel

  6. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Gerhard Gmel

  7. University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Gerhard Gmel

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  1. Joseph Studer
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  2. Stéphanie Baggio
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  3. Meichun Mohler-Kuo
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  4. Olivier Simon
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Correspondence to Joseph Studer.

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Studer, J., Baggio, S., Mohler-Kuo, M. et al. Latent Class Analysis of Gambling Activities in a Sample of Young Swiss Men: Association with Gambling Problems, Substance Use Outcomes, Personality Traits and Coping Strategies. J Gambl Stud 32, 421–440 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-015-9547-9

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