Supervisors info:
Πέννυ Παναγιωτοπούλου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Επιστημών Εκπαίδευσης και Κοινωνικής Εργασίας, ΠΠ
Ιωάννης Δημάκος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Επιστημών Εκπαίδευσης και Κοινωνικής Εργασίας, ΠΠ
Πήλιος Σταύρου, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ψυχολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The present study aims to investigate adults’ attitudes towards gambling, gambling activity, levels of anxiety and coping strategies. The limited empirical data researches on the extent and the form of the gambling phenomenon in Greece (Syndonas et al., 2016) triggered the present study. Gambling is considered a socially accepted form of entertainment (McMillan, 1996) and it is defined as the wager of any type of item or possession of value upon a game or event of uncertain outcome in which chance, of variable degree, determines such outcome (Bolen & Boyd, 1968). Even if gambling is a leisure activity it can turn into a problematic or even pathological habit for the individual (Abbott, 2020). Anxiety seems to be a contributing factor of gambling activity (Potenza et al., 2002͘ Wood & Griffiths 2007͘ Synondas et al., 2016͘). Gambling has also been found to be associated with coping strategies, with the emotional focused strategies used most commonly by gamblers in order to deal with their problems (Jauregui et al., 2017). The sample consisted of 407 adults from different regions of Greece. It is an online survey using self reported questionnaires investigating Coping Strategies, Depression, Anxiety and Stress levels, Attitudes towards gambling and Gambling activity comprised of the Coping Strategies Scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, the Attitudes towards Gambling Scale and the Problem Gambling Severity Index. The findings showed that the attitudes towards gambling were generally negative and that almost half of the participants did not gamble or had no problem engaging in gambling. Moreover, statistically significant differences were found in Coping Strategies, Depression, Anxiety and Stress, Attitudes towards gambling and Gambling activity mainly in terms of gender and age, as well as statistical correlations between Coping Strategies, Depression, Anxiety and Stress, Attitudes towards gambling and Gambling activity. Gambling has been found to be a significantly more important activity for men and is associated with attitudes towards it as well as depression, anxiety and stress. In addition, multiple regression analysis, showed that gender, educational level and stress affect attitudes towards gambling, as well as that gender, depression, coping strategies of ‘Positive approach’ and ‘Assertive problem solving’ and attitudes towards gambling affect adults’ gambling activity.
Keywords:
Gambling, Attitudes towards gambling, Gambling activity, Anxiety, Coping Strategies
