Youth gambling: the role of individual and family factors in youth problem gambling

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Calado, F. ORCID: 0000-0003-2906-7279, 2018. Youth gambling: the role of individual and family factors in youth problem gambling. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

Research has shown that youth engage in gambling, and for a small minority gambling can become problematic with severe negative consequences (Calado, Alexandre & Griffiths, 2017a).

Youth problem gambling is associated with several different factors, but little is known how these factors might influence or interact with each other in predicting this behavior. Moreover, although research on youth gambling had been conducted in many countries, there is still a paucity of research on this phenomenon in Portugal. Therefore, the unique contribution to knowledge of this PhD is (i) the exploration of gambling perceptions among 46 Portuguese adolescents and young adults in an attempt to obtain preliminary insights of youth gambling in this particular context; (ii) the validation of a widely used gambling instrument, the DSM-IV-J-MR into the Portuguese language; (iii) the testing of two theoretical models for predicting youth problem gambling comprising individual and family variables that have received little attention in the literature in a sample of English students, and in a sample of Portuguese and English students respectively; and (iv) the designing of a youth prevention program based on the findings from previous studies, and the delivering of this intervention among a sample of Portuguese high-school students. A mixed methods approach was taken throughout the thesis used in the form of focus groups, psychometric testing, survey, and an intervention. Data were analysed using a variety of methodological techniques including thematic analysis, mixed ANOVAs, and structural equation modelling. The results of the empirical studies indicate that (i) adolescents perceived gambling as an activity with positive outcomes, such as more entertainment, and a better life due to the money they win with this activity; (ii) the Portuguese version of the DSM-IV-MR-J showed acceptable psychometric properties and replicated the one-factor structure of the original scale; (iii) attachment is not directly associated with youth problem gambling, but has an indirect association with this variable via coping and sensation seeking; and (iv) the intervention was efficacious in improving knowledge and gambling-related misconceptions and reduced problematic gambling. Overall, this thesis contributes to a further understanding of youth problem gambling, and support the contention that gambling is a multidimensional phenomenon, in which individual and family variables should be taken into account.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Calado, F.
Date:	September 2018
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	25 Sep 2019 15:44
Last Modified:	21 Aug 2020 14:50
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/37786