An Investigation of the Association Between Shame and Problem Gambling: The Mediating Role of Maladaptive Coping Motives

Hera E. Schlagintweit; Kara Thompson; Abby L. Goldstein; Sherry H. Stewart

doi:10.1007/s10899-017-9674-6

An Investigation of the Association Between Shame and Problem Gambling: The Mediating Role of Maladaptive Coping Motives

Hera E. Schlagintweit, Kara Thompson, Abby L. Goldstein, Sherry H. Stewart

Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite often being considered equivalent affective states, shame and guilt have differential associations with problem gambling with only shame showing a strong positive association with problem gambling. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the shame-problem gambling association. Further, shame and guilt are associated with distinct coping strategies, with shame motivating maladaptive coping (e.g., avoidance, escape) and guilt motivating adaptive coping (e.g., taking corrective action). This study aimed to examine whether maladaptive coping motives for gambling mediate the relationship between shame, but not guilt, and gambling problems. Participants were 196 (126 male) regular gamblers who completed a same and guilt scale, the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and a modified Gambling Motives Questionnaire, which assessed individual motives to engage in gambling for coping, enhancement, or social reasons. Results indicated that coping motives for gambling fully mediated the relationship between shame and problem gambling severity, but did not mediate the association between guilt and problem gambling severity. Experiencing shame contributes to problem gambling as a result of gambling to cope with negative affect. Cultivating more adaptive strategies to cope with shame may be effective in preventing and treating problem gambling.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1067-1079
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Gambling Studies
Volume	33
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9674-6
Publication status	Published - Dec 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This study was funded by an operating grant from the Manitoba Gambling Research Program (MGRP) awarded to Sherry H. Stewart, Michael Ellery, and Abbey Goldstein. The findings and conclusions of this paper are those solely of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Manitoba Lotteries. A postdoctoral fellowship from the Movember Canada Foundation was awarded to Kara Thompson. The authors would like to thank Ainsley Cloutier, Benjamin Weilgart-Whitehead, Megan Cowie, Michael Ellery, Nadina Mahadeo, Natalie Vilhena-Churchill, Pamela Collins, and Preeyam Parikh for their assistance with data collection.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Sociology and Political Science
General Psychology

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article

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10.1007/s10899-017-9674-6

Cite this

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abstract = "Despite often being considered equivalent affective states, shame and guilt have differential associations with problem gambling with only shame showing a strong positive association with problem gambling. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the shame-problem gambling association. Further, shame and guilt are associated with distinct coping strategies, with shame motivating maladaptive coping (e.g., avoidance, escape) and guilt motivating adaptive coping (e.g., taking corrective action). This study aimed to examine whether maladaptive coping motives for gambling mediate the relationship between shame, but not guilt, and gambling problems. Participants were 196 (126 male) regular gamblers who completed a same and guilt scale, the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and a modified Gambling Motives Questionnaire, which assessed individual motives to engage in gambling for coping, enhancement, or social reasons. Results indicated that coping motives for gambling fully mediated the relationship between shame and problem gambling severity, but did not mediate the association between guilt and problem gambling severity. Experiencing shame contributes to problem gambling as a result of gambling to cope with negative affect. Cultivating more adaptive strategies to cope with shame may be effective in preventing and treating problem gambling.",

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An Investigation of the Association Between Shame and Problem Gambling: The Mediating Role of Maladaptive Coping Motives

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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PubMed: MeSH publication types

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