The Effects of Abuse, Emotion Regulation and Family MemberâÂÂs GamblingProblem on Problem Gamblers: Developmental Perspective

Abstract

The goal of this study was to identify the moderated mediating effect of family member's gambling problem on the connection between abuse, emotion regulation and problem gambling. To this end, a research model was tested among 642 adults (men: 473, women: 169) who gambled at least once a year and had been categorized as problem gamblers based on the CPGI score (8 and above). The study results were as follows: for men, abuse was identified to have a direct effect on problem gambling and an indirect influence on problem gambling by lowering their emotion regulation. In addition, men who experienced much abuse and had a family member with a gambling problem were found to suffer with a gambling problem of higher severity. This indicates that family member’s gambling problem moderates the connection between abuse and gambling problem. As for women, history of domestic abuse affected emotion regulation, but emotion regulation did not mediate the connection between abuse and gambling problem. This study has its significance as it identifies the mechanism of family member’s gambling problem from the perspective of developmental psychopathology, in addition to the mechanism of emotion regulation and gambling problem on the developmental path that negative childhood experience can lead to adjustment problem in adulthood.