Stressful Life Events And Their Impact On Female Problem Gambling
Despite the growth of research on gender, there are still gaps in terms of carrying out specific studies that refer to the importance of stressful life events, emotional regulation and alexithymia in female gamblers. Numerous studies indicate that life stressors, specifically early adverse experiences and trauma, increase the risk of psychopathology in adult life, including the development of gambling disorder.
Are Stressful Life Events Connected To Problem Gambling?
Stressful life events are a set of experiences, such as emotional abuse, physical neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse, and interpersonal trauma that trigger a significant change in the person's life, causing a great impact on health. These have been associated with a multitude of negative consequences and have been significantly related to the abusive consumption of substances. A recent study indicates that women with major stressful life events in childhood are more predisposed to substance use and that they use substance use as a coping mechanism to alleviate trauma-related symptoms and calm associated memories. Likewise, women with significant stressful life events in childhood could be at greater risk of developing pathological or problematic gambling behaviors, and as a consequence, use gambling as an escape and coping route. In a study they found that difficulty tolerating negative emotions is a risk factor for developing problematic and pathological gambling behaviors.
Can Problem Gamblers Regulate Their Emotions?
Likewise, other studies have indicated that difficulty regulating emotions predicts gambling behavior and greater severity of the behavior. Along the same lines, it was observed that pathological gamblers showed greater difficulties in emotional regulation. Likewise, there are fewer studies conducted with adolescents, but they show similar results. Along the same lines, studies carried out with a gender perspective show that difficulty regulating emotions is a risk factor for women to develop addictive behaviors with substance, abusive use of social networks, emotional dependence and binge eating disorder. However, there is a scarcity of studies that analyze the relationship between gambling disorder and emotional regulation difficulties in women.
Problem Gambling As An Alexithymia Symptom
Another construct that has been related to emotional regulation is alexithymia, which is understood as the poor ability to analyze, describe, identify, and differentiate one's own and others' emotional states. People with alexithymia have a hard time regulating their emotions correctly. Experts agree that people with problematic gambling behaviors have difficulties identifying emotions as a consequence of a deficit in emotional awareness, likewise, they report difficulty accepting affective states. Some previous studies suggest that women with alexithymic traits could be more prone to develop problematic or pathological gambling behaviors, since gambling could have a regulatory function of emotional states. Previous studies carried out in adolescents without differentiating by gender have shown that alexithymic traits may be associated with problematic gambling behavior. However, there is a scarcity of studies that analyze this problem taking into account gender differences. In conclusion, the literature seems to indicate that women with a gambling addiction present a greater exposure to stressful life events, greater difficulty in emotional regulation and higher levels of alexithymia.
References
- Adolphe, A., Khatib, L., van Golde, C., Gainsbury, S. M., y Blaszczynski, A. (2019). Crime and gambling disorders: a systematic review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35(2), 395-414.
- Blaszczynski, A., y Nower, L. (2002). A pathways model of problem and pathological gambling. Addiction, 97(5), 487-499.
- Boughton, R., y Falenchuk, O. (2007). Vulnerability and comorbidity factors of female problem gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 23(3), 323-334.
- Brewer, R., Cook, R., y Bird, G. (2016). Alexithymia: A general deficit of interoception.
- Royal Society Open Science, 3(10), 1–8.Brydges, N. M., Holmes, M. C., Harris, A. P., Cardinal, R. N., y Hall, J. (2015). Early life stress produces compulsive-like, but not impulsive, behavior in females. Behavioral Neuroscience, 129(3), 300-308.
- Calado, F., Alexandre, J., y Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Prevalence of adolescent problem gambling: A systematic review of recent research. Journal of Gambling Studies, 33(2), 397–424.
- Caldentey, C., Tirado-Muñoz, J., Ferrer, T., Fonseca, F., Rossi, P., MestrePintó, J.I. y Torrens, M. (2017). Intimate partner violence among female drug users admitted to the general hospital screeming and prevalence. Adicciones, 29(3), 172-179.
- Chaudhury, S., Goel, D.S. y Singh, H. (2006). Psychological effects of low intensity conflicto operations. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 48(4), 223-231.
- Compas, B.E., Orosan, P.G. y Grantz, K.E. (1993). Adolescent stress and coping: implications for psychopathology during adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 16 (3), 331-349.
- Elmas, H. G., Cesur, G., y Oral, E. T. (2017). Alexithymia and pathological gambling: The mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation. Turk Psikiyatri Dergisi, 28(1), 1–7.
- Estevez, A., Jauregui, P., Lopez-Gonzalez, H., Mena-Moreno, T., Lozano FMadrid, M., Macia, L., ... y Jimenez-Murcia, S. (2021). The severity of gambling and gambling related cognitions as predictors of emotional regulation and coping strategies in adolescents. Journal of Gambling Studies, 37(2), 483-495.
- Estévez, A., Jauregui, P., Macía, L., y López-González, H. (2021). Gambling and attachment: the mediating role of alexithymia in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Gambling Studies, 37(2), 497-514.
- Estévez, A., Jauregui, P., Macía, L., y Martín-Pérez, C. (2021). Alexithymia and emotion regulation strategies in adolescent gamblers with and without at-risk profiles. Journal of Gambling Studies. Publicación avanzada en linea.
- Farstad, S. M., y von Ranson, K. M. (2021). Binge eating and problem gambling are prospectively associated with common and distinct deficits in emotion regulation among community women. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 53(1), 36.
- Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., y Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1311–1327.
- Garrido-Fernández, M., Moral-Arroyo, G. D., y Jaén-Rincón, P. (2017). Antecedentes de juego y evaluación del sistema familiar de una muestra de jóvenes jugadores patológicos. Health and Addictions/salud y Drogas, 17(2), 25–36.
- González-Roz, A., Fernández-Hermida, J. R., Weidberg, S., Martínez-Loredo, V., y Secades-Villa, R. (2017). Prevalence of problem gambling among adolescents: A comparison across modes of access, gambling activities, and levels of severity. Journal of Gambling Studies, 33(2), 371–382.
- Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39(3), 281-291.
- Heim, C., Newport, D.J. , Heit, S. , Graham, Y.P. , Wilcox, M. , Bonsall, R. , Miller, A.H. y ,Nemeroff, C.B . (2000). Pituitary-adrenal and autonomic responses to stress in women after sexual and physical abuse in childhood. Journal American Medical Association, 284(5), 592-597.
- Hing, Nerilee, y Breen, Helen, 2001. Profiling lady luck: An empirical study of gambling and problem gambling amongst female club members. Journal of Gambling Studies, 17(1) 47-69.
- Holdsworth, L., Nuske, E., y Breen, H. (2013). All mixed up together: Women’s experiences of problem gambling, comorbidity and co-occurring complex needs. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 11(3), 315-328.
- Hormes, J. M., Kearns, B., y Timko, C. A. (2014). Craving Facebook? Behavioral addiction to online social networking and its association with emotion regulation deficits. Addiction, 109(12), 2079-2088.
- Jacobs, D. F. (2004). Juvenile gambling in North America: Long term trends and future prospects. En J. L. Derevensky y R. Gupta (Eds.), Gambling problems in youth: Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. 1–26). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
- Jauregui, P., Estevez, A., y Urbiola, I. (2016). Pathological gambling and associated drug and alcohol abuse, emotion regulation, and anxious-depressive symptomatology. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(2), 251 260.
- Jose, B.S., Oers, H.A., Mheen, H.D., Garretsen, H.F. y Mackenbach, J.P. (2000). Stressors and alcohol consumption, Alcohol and Alcoholis, 35(3), 307-312.
- Kandri, T. A., Bonotis, K. S., Floros, G. D., y Zafiropoulou, M. M. (2014). Alexithymia components in excessive internet users: A multi-factorial analysis. Psychiatry research, 220(1–2), 348–355.
- Lijffijt, M., Hu, K. y Swann, A.C. (2014). Stress Modulates Illness-Course of sustance use disorders: A translational review. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 83.
- Lloréns, R., Morales, E., De Vicente, T. y Calatayud, M.D. (2002). Estrés post-traumático y adicciones. Adicciones, 14(4), 487-490.
- Marchetti, D., Verrocchio, M. C., yPorcelli, P. (2019). Gambling problems and alexithymia: A systematic review. Brain Sciences, 9(8), 1–16.
- Marchica, L. A., Mills, D. J., Derevensky, J. L., y Montreuil, T. C. (2019). The role of emotion regulation in video gaming and gambling disorder: A systematic review. Canadian Journal of Addiction, 10(4), 19–29.
- Momeñe, J., Estévez, A., Pérez-García, A. M., Jiménez, J., Chávez-Vera, M. D., Olave, L.,y Iruarrizaga, I. (2021). El consumo de sustancias y su relación con la dependencia emocional, el apego y la regulación emocional en adolescentes. Anales de Psicología/Annals of Psychology, 37(1), 121-132.
- Morie, K. P., Yip, S. W., Nich, C., Hunkele, K., Carroll, K. M., y Potenza, M. N. (2016). Alexithymia and addiction: A review and preliminary data suggesting neurobiological links to reward/loss processing. Current Addiction Reports, 3(2), 239–248.
- Navas, J. F., Verdejo-García, A., LÓpez-GÓmez, M., Maldonado, A., y Perales, J. C. (2016).Gambling with rose-tinted glasses on: Use of emotion-regulation strategies correlates with dysfunctional cognitions in gambling disorder patients. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(2), 271-281.
- Schull, N. D. (2002). Escape mechanism: Women, caretaking, and compulsive machine gambling. Berkeley Collection of Working and Occasional Papers, 51(3) 345-376.
- Sheppes, G., Suri, G., y Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation and psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 11, 379–405.
- Sideli, L., La Barbera, D., Montana, S., Sartorio, C. R., Seminerio, F., Corso, M., Giunta, S. Suarez Cuba, M. Á. (2010). La importancia del análisis de los acontecimientos vitales estresantes en la práctica clínica. Revista Médica La Paz, 16(2), 58-62.
- Terrone, G., Musetti, A., Raschielli, S., Marino, A., Costrini, P., Mossi, P., Salvatore, S., y Caretti, V. (2018). Attachment relationships and internalization and externalization problems in a group of adolescents with pathological gambling disorder. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 15, 66–74.
- Trevorrow, K., y Moore, S. (1998). The association between loneliness, social isolation and women’s electronic gaming machine gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 14(3), 263-284.
- Troy, A. S., y Mauss, I. B. (2011). Resilience in the face of stress: Emotion regulation as a protective factor. Resilience and mental health: Challenges across the lifespan, 1(2), 30-44.
