The links between gambling disorder, cyberbullying, emotion regulation, and coping strategies

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Author(s): Estévez, Ana ; Macía, Laura ; Lopez-Gonzalez, Hibai ; Momeñe, Janire ; Jauregui, Paula ; Etxaburu, Nerea ; Granero, Roser ; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando ; Mestre-Bach, Gemma ; Vintró-Alcaraz, Cristina ; Munguía, Lucero ; Baenas, Isabel ; Mena-Moreno, Teresa ; Mora-Maltas, Bernat ; Valenciano-Mendoza, Eduardo ; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana

Journal: Journal of Gambling Studies

Year Published: 2022

Date Added: January 12, 2023

People, especially adolescents, may have greater difficulty controlling their gambling behaviours if their coping skills are lacking. Victims of cyberbullying often use coping skills that are not ideal. The researchers examined differences in emotion regulation, coping strategies, and substance abuse among two samples of adolescents and young adults. The first sample was 31 young patients who were being treated for gambling disorder at a Spanish hospital. The second sample was a community sample of 250 adolescents recruited from secondary education schools in Spain. In both groups, exposure to cyberbullying behaviours was linked to worse emotion regulation. It was also linked to the use of maladaptive coping strategies. In the community sample, participants who experienced cyberbullying were more likely to use/abuse alcohol. In the clinical sample, higher cyberbullying was linked to lower gambling severity.

Citation: Estévez, A., Macía, L., López-González, H., Momeñe, J., Jauregui, P., Etxaburu, N., Granero, R., Fernández-Aranda, F., Mestre-Bach, G., Vintró-Alcaraz, C., Munguía, L., Baenas, I., Mena-Moreno, T., Mora-Maltas, B., Valenciano-Mendoza, E., & Jiménez-Murcia, S. (2022). Cyberbullying and gambling disorder: Associations with emotion regulation and coping strategies. Journal of Gambling Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10160-4

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10160-4

Keywords: adolescents ; coping strategies ; cyberbullying ; emotional dysregulation ; gambling disorder ; young people

Topics: Children and Youth ; Priority Populations

Conceptual Framework Factors: Psychological - Comorbid Disorders ; Psychological Factors ; Psychological - Coping Styles ; Social - Social Demographics ; Psychological - Lifespan Development ; Social - Deviance ; Social Factors

Study Design: Descriptive: Survey

Geographic Coverage: Spain

Study Population: The clinical patients included 31 young patients who voluntarily asked for treatment at the outpatient Gambling Disorder Unit at Bellvitge University Hospital in Spain. These patients were diagnosed using the DSM-5 criteria. Most of the patients were men (90%). All were born in Spain. On average, participants in this sample were 21 years old. A total of 250 participants were recruited for the community sample. Most of the participants were born in Spain (90%). About half of the participants were men. On average, participants were 18 years old.

Sampling Procedure: The researchers recruited two samples for this study. The first sample was a clinical sample of patients. The clinical patients included 31 young patients who voluntarily asked for treatment at the outpatient Gambling Disorder Unit at Bellvitge University Hospital in Spain. The second sample was a community sample. Participants were recruited from secondary education schools from the Basque Country region in Spain. The researchers used convenience sampling to recruit this sample by sending invitations to local schools. A research team member travelled to participating schools to help administer the questionnaires. Students completed the survey in their classroom.

Study Funding:

Open Access funding was provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.