From the mouths of social media users: A focus group study exploring the social casino gaming–online gambling link

Background and aims The potential link between social casino gaming and online gambling has raised considerable concerns among clinicians, researchers and policy makers. Unfortunately, however, there is a paucity of research examining this potential link, especially among young adults. This represents a significant gap given young adults are frequently exposed to and are players of social casino games. Methods To better understand the potential link between social casino games and online gambling, we conducted three focus groups (N = 30) at two large Canadian Universities with college students who were avid social media users (who are regularly exposed to social casino games). Results Many participants spontaneously mentioned that social casino games were a great opportunity to build gambling skills before playing for real money. Importantly, some participants expressed a belief that there is a direct progression from social casino gaming to online gambling. Conversely, others believed the transition to online gambling depended on a person’s personality, rather than mere exposure to social casino games. While many young adults in our focus groups felt immune to the effects of social casino games, there was a general consensus that social casino games may facilitate the transition to online gambling among younger teenagers (i.e., 12–14 yr olds), due to the ease of accessibility and early exposure. Discussion The results of the present research point to the need for more study on the effects of social casino gambling as well as a discussion concerning regulation of social casino games in order to minimize their potential risks

Measuring Responsible Gambling amongst Players: Development of the Positive Play Scale

The modern gambling industry has, by-in-large, assumed a duty of care to minimize the risks associated with gambling, which has manifested in responsible gambling (RG) programming (e.g., educating players about the odds of success). The current study fills a void in gambling operator

The Push and Pull of Nostalgia: Sentimental Longing in a Fundamental Component of the Behavior Change Process

Abstract: Behavior change is hard, and the recovery process is equally as challenging. Yet a paucity of research has been conducted on factors that motivated and undermine sustained behavior change. In this talk, we will discuss a growing body of work that suggests nostalgic reverie (i.e., sentimental longing) is a critical factor in both the behavior change and recovery process among people living with a gambling disorder. First, we will report the results of research (Study 1) that demonstrates nostalgic reverie for life before one’s problematic gambling behaviour facilitates behaviour change. We will then report the results of new research (three studies) that demonstrates the potential dark side of nostalgia among people in recovery from a gambling disorder (as well as those living with an eating disorder). Specifically, we show that among people in recovery from an eating disorder (Study 2) and disordered gambling (Study 3) who are nostalgic for the perceived benefits of their disorder (e.g., the excitement of winning) felt they were less (subjective) advanced in their recovery process. Among those living with a gambling disorder, we also showed that optimism about their recovery process interacted with nostalgia to create ambivalence about their recovery. Implications: This program of research suggests there are both basic and applied implications of nostalgic reverie (and its content) that both researchers and treatment providers need to take into consideration when trying to understand and facilitate sustained behavior change

Structural or Dispositional? An Experimental Investigation of the Experience of Winning in Social Casino Games (and Impulsivity) on Subsequent Gambling Behaviors

Background and aims: In the present research, we experimentally investigated whether the experience of winning (i.e., inflated payout rates) in a social casino game influenced social casino gamers’ subsequent decision to gamble for money. Furthermore, we assessed whether facets of dispositional impulsivity – negative and positive urgency in particular – also influenced participants’ subsequent gambling. Methods: Social casino gamers who were also current gamblers (N = 318) were asked to play a social casino game to assess their perceptions of the game in exchange for $3. Unbeknownst to them, players were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: winning (n = 110), break-even (n = 103), or losing (n = 105). After playing, participants were offered a chance to gamble their$3 renumeration in an online roulette game. Results: A total of 280 participants (88.1%) elected to gamble, but no between-condition variation in the decision to gamble emerged. Furthermore, there were no differences in gambling on the online roulette between condition. However, higher levels of both negative and positive urgency increased the likelihood of gambling. Finally, impulsivity did not moderate the relationship between experience of winning and decision to gamble. Conclusion: The results suggest that dispositional factors, including impulsive urgency, are implicated in the choice to gamble for social casino gamers following play

Perpetrator groups can enhance their moral self-image by accepting their own intergroup apologies

There is an implicit assumption that perpetrators' moral image restoration following an intergroup apology depends on absolution from victims. In this paper we examine whether perpetrators can in fact look to other ingroup members for moral pardon. In Studies 1 and 4, Australians read an apology to Indian people for a series of assaults on Indian nationals in Australia. In Studies 2 and 3, non-Aboriginal Australians were provided with apologies offered on their behalf to Aboriginal Australians. In each study participants were told that other perpetrator group members had either accepted or rejected the apology. In line with predictions, when perpetrator group members heard that fellow perpetrators accepted an apology made to victims they felt morally restored, and consequently were more willing to reconcile. Effects were largely unqualified by apology quality (Studies 2–4), and held in the face of victim group apology rejection (Studies 3–4). We demonstrate that perpetrator group members can effectively gain moral redemption by accepting their own apologies, even qualified ones that have proved insufficient to victim groups

Taking Up Offenses: Secondhand Forgiveness and Group Identification

When a person or group is mistreated, those not directly harmed by the transgression might still experience antipathy toward offenders, leading to secondhand forgiveness dynamics similar to those experienced by firsthand victims. Three studies examine the role of social identification in secondhand forgiveness. Study 1 shows that the effects of apologies on secondhand victims are moderated by level of identification with the wronged group. Study 2 shows that identification with the United States was associated with less forgiveness and greater blame and desire for retribution directed at the 9/11 terrorists, and these associations were primarily mediated by anger. Finally, Study 3 shows that participants whose assimilation needs were primed were less forgiving toward the perpetrators of an assault on ingroup members than participants whose differentiation needs were primed, an effect that was mediated by empathy for the victims.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Opt-out HIV testing in prison: informed and voluntary?

HIV testing in prison settings has been identified as an important mechanism to detect cases among high-risk, underserved populations. Several public health organizations recommend that testing across healthcare settings, including prisons, be delivered in an opt-out manner. However, implementation of opt-out testing within prisons may pose challenges in delivering testing that is informed and understood to be voluntary. In a large state prison system with a policy of voluntary opt-out HIV testing, we randomly sampled adult prisoners in each of seven intake prisons within two weeks after their opportunity to be HIV tested. We surveyed prisoners’ perception of HIV testing as voluntary or mandatory and used multivariable statistical models to identify factors associated with their perception. We also linked survey responses to lab records to determine if prisoners’ test status (tested or not) matched their desired and perceived test status. Thirty eight percent (359/936) perceived testing as voluntary. The perception that testing was mandatory was positively associated with age less than 25 years (adjusted relative risk [aRR]: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.24, 1.71) and preference that testing be mandatory (aRR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.41, 2.31), but negatively associated with entry into one of the intake prisons (aRR: 0.41 95% CI: 0.27, 0.63). Eighty-nine percent of prisoners wanted to be tested, 85% were tested according to their wishes, and 82% correctly understood whether or not they were tested. Most prisoners wanted to be HIV tested and were aware that they had been tested, but less than 40% understood testing to be voluntary. Prisoners’ understanding of the voluntary nature of testing varied by intake prison and by a few individual-level factors. Testing procedures should ensure that opt-out testing is informed and understood to be voluntary by prisoners and other vulnerable populations