Do Scores on the Gambling Functional Assessment-Revised Predict Discounting of Delayed Gains and/or Losses in a University Sample

The present study investigated whether participants’ scores on the Gambling Functional Assessment – Revised (GFA-R) would be predictive of their level of discounting of delayed hypothetical monetary gains and losses. One hundred twenty eight university students completed the GFA-R and a discounting task involving two hypothetical monetary amounts that were framed either as gains or losses. Participants endorsed gambling for positive reinforcement significantly more than gambling for negative reinforcement. They discounted losses significantly more than gains and displayed a magnitude effect for losses (the effect was not statistically significant for gains). GFA-R scores were significant predictors of discounting for only the outcome of losing $1,000. Gambling for positive and negative reinforcement predicted more or less discounting, respectively. The results suggest that the GFA-R may be a useful research tool, that one cannot assume that discounting of gains will be informative about the discounting of losses, and that the contingencies that may be maintaining a person’s gambling behavior may not be informative as to how that person discounts particular outcomes

The Relationship between Endorsing Gambling as an Escape and the Display of Gambling Problems

Previous research has reported a strong relationship between endorsing gambling as an escape and problem/pathological gambling as measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). The present study recruited 249 university students to complete the Gambling Functional Assessment-Revised (GFA-R), which measures the function of the respondent’s gambling, as well as the SOGS and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), which was designed to identify gambling problems in the general population. Endorsing gambling as an escape on the GFA-R was again predictive of SOGS scores. The function of one’s gambling was also predictive of the respondents’ PGSI scores, but whether gambling for positive reinforcement or as an escape was the significant predictor differed between male and female respondents. Scores on the GFA-R subscales also accounted for a significant amount of variance in PGSI scores above and beyond that accounted for by SOGS scores. The present results support the idea that both practitioners and researchers should be interested in the function of an individual’s gambling as well as the presence or the absence of pathology. They also suggest that differences in the function of gambling might also exist between the sexes

Temporal Discounting and Gambling: A Meaningful Relationship?

Pathological gambling is an important and large societal problem. Theorists and researchers have linked pathological gambling to rates of temporal discounting, although not all attempts to do so have been successful. Unfortunately, popular measures of temporal discounting each have weaknesses, and studies of discounting have tended to focus on one particular commodity – hypothetical monetary rewards. Evidence exists to suggest that problem and pathological gambling is also linked to escape contingencies. If so, these findings could potentially explain the link that has been found between temporal discounting and gambling. Implications and predictions of this possibility are discussed

Discounting by Problem and Non-Problem Gambers when the Hypothetical Context is Manipulated

The majority of the previous research on delay discounting in pathological gamblers has found that these individuals discount monetary consequences more steeply than do nongamblers. The present study attempted to replicate this effect, as well as determine whether changes in the context in which the discounting decision was made would differentially influence the discounting of non-gamblers and problem/pathological gamblers. Participants discounted $1,000 after being informed that their hypothetical annual salary was a certain amount. Participants then completed the discounting task a second time after being informed that their hypothetical annual salary remained the same, had been halved, or had been doubled. Manipulation of the participants’ hypothetical salaries did not alter rates of delay discounting, but the problem/pathological gamblers discounted the$1,000 significantly less than did the non-gamblers. These results suggest that steeper rates of discounting will not always be observed in problem gamblers relative to nonproblem gamblers. Potential reasons for the present results and their implications for understanding the relationship between discounting and pathological gambling are discussed