Gambling motives and dysfunctional psychological symptomatology in pathological gamblers

Gambling behavior has been found to be related to different gambling motives, such as enhancement, social, and coping motives. In pathological gambling, some studies have related gambling to the expectation of obtaining positive emotional states or alleviating negative emotional states (Shead, Callan, & Hodgins, 2008). In the same line, pathological gambling has been found to be related to the need to regulate and cope with different emotional states (Jáuregui, Estévez, & Urbiola, 2016; Schlagintweit, Thompson, Goldstein, & Stewart, 2017; Williams, Grisham, Erskine & Cassedy, 2012). This study aimed to analyze the relationship of gambling motives with pathological gambling, anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. A sample of 164 gamblers was recruited from centers for the treatment of pathological gambling. Moreover, gambling motives correlated with pathological gambling, anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. More concretely, enhancement motives predicted pathological gambling, whereas coping motives predicted anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. These results are relevant for clinical evaluation and intervention with adult pathological gamblers.