Problem gambling among older people. An italian study on habits, representations, levels of engagement and psychosocial determinants

Gambling participation among older people has grown over the years. Elders constitute a large and fast-growing population in Italy, but little empirical evidence describes gambling patterns among older Italian adults and the problem gambling (PG)’s psychosocial determinants, so a range of questions which are crucial to orient prevention strategies remain unanswered. The present study aims to investigate habits, representations, levels of engagement in gambling among Italian elders and the role of loneliness, social support and well-being in explaining their problem with gambling. A convenience sample of 165 participants (mean age: 66.93; SD = 5.73; women: 43.1%) was involved. Gambling activities, habits, representations and PG rates were examined. A group “at moderate risk/problem gambling” (scoring >7 on PGSI, n = 40) and a control group (scoring 0 on PGSI, n = 40) were selected from the whole sample, balanced on socio-demographic characteristics; a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the two groups on the target psychosocial variables. 11.5% of the sample was found to meet the PGSI criteria for PG; 26.7% for moderate risk; 11.5% for problem gambling; 50.3% were classified as no-problem gamblers. Scratch cards were the main form of gambling among all groups; the chance to make more money and to distract oneself from other problems were the main reasons to gamble. Finally, the group “at moderate risk/problem gambling,” compared to the control group, expressed higher loneliness, as well as lower perceived social support and well-being

What game we are playing: the psychosocial context of problem gambling, problem gaming and poor well-being among Italian high school students

Gambling and gaming are not infrequent among adolescents and preventing low-risk youth from becoming at-risk appears to be a priority of public health strategies. Greater scrutiny of the risk and protective factors in the relationships and community of young people appears crucial in steering prevention initiatives adequately. This study aimed to explore the role of the qualities of relational networks (i.e. family functioning, perceived social and class support), family and peer approval and view of the social environment in predicting problem gambling, problem gaming and overall well-being among adolescents. High-school students aged 14–18 years (N: 595; female: 68,7%) completed a survey including the target variables. A multivariate multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the role of socio-demographic characteristics and psychosocial predictors on gaming, gambling, and well-being. Multivariate multiple regressions identify a common core underpinning problem gambling, gaming and poor well-being but also the distinct roles of psychosocial variables: being male, with low parental monitoring, and an anomic view of the social environment all predict problem gambling and gaming, which were also found to be associated. Low social support predicts problem gambling but not problem gaming; poor family functioning predicts problem gaming but not problem gambling. All the target psychosocial variables, except approval of gambling, predict poor well-being. On the whole the findings suggest the need to look more closely at the way adolescents, their system of activity and their culture participate in constructing the meaning of gambling and gaming activities and their impact on adolescents’ well-being, so that future studies and strategies can more effectively examine the relational dynamics in which problem gambling and gaming develo

STEPS TOWARDS A UNIFIED THEORY OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY: THE PHASE SPACE OF MEANING MODEL

none6noThe hypothesis of a general psychopathology factor (p factor) has been advanced in recent years. It is an innovation with breakthrough potential, in the perspective of a unified view of psychopathology; however, what remains a controversial topic is how its nature might be conceptualized. The current paper outlines a semiotic, embodied and psychoanalytic conceptualization of psychopathology – the Phase Space of Meaning (PSM) model – aimed at providing ontological grounds to the p factor hypothesis. Framed within a more general model of how the mind works, the PSM model maintains that the p factor can be conceived as the empirical marker of the degree of rigidity of the meaning-maker’s way of interpreting experience, namely of the dimensions of meanings used to map the environment’s variability. As to the clinical implications, two main aspects are outlined. First, according PSM model, psychopathology is not an invariant condition, and does not have a set dimensionality, but is able to vary it locally, in order to address the requirement of situated action. Second, psychopathology is conceived as one of the mind’s modes of working, rather than the manifestation of its disruption. Finally, the puzzling issue of the interplay between stability and variability in the evolutionary trajectories of patients along with their life events is addressed and discussed.openVenuleo, C.; Salvatore, G.; Andrisano-Ruggieri, R.; Marinaci, T.; Cozzolino, M.; Salvatore, S.Venuleo, C.; Salvatore, G.; Andrisano-Ruggieri, R.; Marinaci, T.; Cozzolino, M.; Salvatore, S

Making sense of the COVID-19 pandemic : a qualitative longitudinal study investigating the first and second wave in Italy

The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the crucial role of people's compliance for the success of measures designed to protect public health. Within the frame of Semiotic Cultural Psycho-social Theory, we discuss how the analysis of people's ways of making sense of the crisis scenario can help to identify the resources or constraints underlying the ways the citizens evaluate and comply with the anti-covid measures. This study aimed to examine how Italian adults interpreted what was happening in the first wave of the pandemic and how the interpretation varied in the period up to the beginning of the second wave. Diaries were collected for six months, from 11 April to 3 November 2020. Participants were periodically asked to talk about their life ‘in the last few weeks’. A total number of 606 diaries were collected. The Automated Method for Content Analysis (ACASM) procedure was applied to the texts to detect the factorial dimensions – interpreted as the markers of latent dimensions of meanings– underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents' discourses. ANOVA were applied to examine the dissimilarities in the association between factorial dimensions and production time. Findings show that significant transitions occurred over time in the main dimensions of meaning identified. Whereas the first phase was characterized by a focus on one's own daily life and the attempt to make sense of the changes occurring in the personal sphere, in the following phases the socio-economic impact of the crisis was brought to the fore, along with the hope to returning to the “normality” of the pre-rupture scenario. We argued that, despite the differences, a low sense of the interweaving between the personal and public sphere emerged in the accounts of the pandemic crisis throughout the sixth months considered; a split that, we speculate, can explain the “free for all” movement that occurred at the end of the first wave and the beginning of the second wave.peer-reviewe

Social environment and attitudes toward COVID-19 anti-contagious measures: an explorative study from Italy

Social and cultural aspects (i.e., political decision making, discourses in the public sphere, and people’s mindsets) played a crucial role in the ways people responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Framed with the Semiotic-Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT), the present work aims to explore how individual ways of making sense of their social environment affected individuals’ perception of government measures aimed at managing the pandemic and the adherence to such measures. An online survey was administered from January to April 2021 to the Italian population. Retrieved questionnaires (N = 378) were analyzed through a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to detect the factorial dimensions underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents’ ways of interpreting their social environment. Extracted factors were interpreted as markers of Latent Dimensions of Sense (LDSs) organizing respondents’ worldviews. Finally, three regression models tested the role of LDSs in supporting the individual satisfaction with the measures adopted to contain the social contagion defined at national level, individual adherence to the containment measures and the perception of the population’s adherence to them. Results highlight that all the three measures are associated with a negative view of the social environment characterized by a lack of confidence in public institutions (health system, government), public roles and other people. Findings are discussed on the one hand to shed light on the role of deep-rooted cultural views in defining personal evaluations of government measures and adherence capacity. On the other hand, we suggest that taking into account people’s meaning-making can guide public health officials and policy makers to comprehend what favors or hinders adaptive responses to emergencies or social crises

A confirmatory composite analysis for the Italian validation of the interactions anxiousness scale: a higher-order version

This study examined the factor structure and model specifications of the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) with confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a sample of Italian adolescents (n=764). The CCA and PLS-SEM results identified the reflective nature of the IAS sub-scale scores, supporting an alternative measurement model of the IAS scores as a second-order reflective–reflective model

The institutional management of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy: a qualitative study on the socio-cultural context underpinning the citizens’ evaluation

Background: Studies on the citizens’ evaluation of the government’s crisis management in the COVID-19 pandemic are almost absent. Within the frame of Semiotic Cultural Psycho-social Theory, we argue that better crisis management requires considering the expectations, value systems and questions expressed by the citizens since these criteria organize how they evaluate the actions planned to respond to “their needs”, how legitimate they consider political decisions and their attitude to complying with the measures established by the government. Objectives:  This study aimed to explore, with a qualitative approach, the ways ordinary people think and make sense of how Italian institutions responded to the crisis, selected the problems to tackle, and the needs the crisis brought to the fore. Methods: An anonymous online survey was available from 21st February to 26th April 2021. Participants were asked to write about “The institutional management of the pandemic crisis …”. A total number of 374 texts were collected (respondents’ mean age = 35,87; DS = 14,14; women: 71,7%). The Automated Method for Content Analysis (ACASM) procedure was applied to the collected texts to detect the factorial dimensions underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents’ narratives. Such factors were interpreted as the markers of latent dimensions of meanings (DS). Results: The two main DS that emerged were characterised by the pertinentization of two different focus of discourse – media communication versus the social system – and two different criteria of evaluation of the crisis management – the institutional responses to the emergency versus the kind of investment for the future. Conclusion: Throughout the narratives, two critical points emerged: the Institutions’ failure to analyse the problems’ complexity and the disparity between what has been said and done by the political system and citizens’ expectations and needs

Considering the socio-cultural terrain of hazardous behaviours : a cross-cultural study on problem gambling among Maltese and Italian people

The literature on problem gambling (PG) has received little attention regarding the role of how people make sense of their social experiences and community settings. Based on a semiotic and cultural perspective, the present study used a cross-national approach to investigate whether there are significant differences in the socio-cultural dimensions characterizing problem gamblers in two different European countries, Italy and Malta. Perceived social support, cultural models and PG were assessed in a convenience sample of 134 subjects, balanced by gender, job status and educational status (Malta n=67; mean age 42.00±16.268; Italia n=67; mean age 43.37±14.446). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to test the relationships among variables; multi-group technique was used to test for any effects defined by the country variable. The findings show that the lower the perceived social support, the higher the likelihood of PG for both national groups. Maltese and Italians exhibited differences vis-à-vis the cultural models that constitute a risk factor for PG. In the case of Italy, a devaluation of the context one belongs to, along with the feeling that one can only rely on oneself, is related to PG. In the case of Malta, PG appears to be related to a trusting attitude toward the micro- and macro-social context. This study suggests that understanding why people engage in hazardous behaviours requires an in-depth consideration of the socio-cultural contexts and networks where people’s ways of evaluating their social experience develop. Implications for designing community PG prevention interventions are discussed.peer-reviewe

The Meaning of Problem Gambling within Group Culture: Narratives Collected from a Gamblers Anonymous Group

Gambling can be viewed as a medical, moral, or cultural concern. From the cultural psychology perspective, the discussions about gambling can be regarded as part of social systems of meanings realized by means of social negotiation and legitimization. Scientists, media and family help centers play a major role in defining how the problem of gambling should be defined and addressed. This work provides an insight into the way the members of Gambler Anonymous (GA) self-help groups get acculturated to a view of gambling as disease, which on one hand imposes a lifelong, chronic illness on all its patients and on the other hand opens the door to the reconciliation with oneself and one’s own relatives. Three focus groups with GA’s members and their significant others in the southern region of Italy were conducted to explore representation about gambling, meaning of group membership and their relationship with it. A view of oneself as individual with a life-long disease is shared among the GA’ members. The medical template, although critical, counteracts a prior view of the gambler as a “vicious and irresponsible” man, failing to meet family and social obligations. Gamblers appear to be helpless in front of their physiological disorder, and thus, to be included, embraced and helped

The social construction of the pathological gambler's identity and its relationship with social adaptation. Narratives from members of Italian Gambling Anonymous and Gam-Anon Family groups

According to a socio-constructionist perspective, pathological gamblers' “subjectivities” emerge out of social networks and networks of meaning-making, in which scientists, politicians, health services and common people take an active part. We are interested in showing how a legitimated view (sociocultural model) of problem gambling as a disease affects the way in which the members of Gamblers Anonymous (GA) self-groups understand and present their identity and talk about their problem and the help they have received. The work is based on a qualitative analysis of 35 in-depth, semi-structured open-ended interviews, 25 with gamblers attending Italian GA self-help groups, and 10 with gamblers’ relatives attending GamAnon family groups. The main themes arising from the interviews show how a dominant view of problem gambling as lifelong chronic illness opens the door to the reconciliation with oneself and one’s relatives. This work provides insights on the close relationship between acculturation to a pathological identity, moral reconciliation and "social belonging" through conforming to the GA group