Cognitive distortions of off-line and mixed gamblers and gamers
Aim: The aim of this study is to compare and trace profiles of individuals who go to casinos, hippodromes, etc. to gamble (offline gamblers) and those who in addition to it, gamble online (mixed gamblers). Method: A total of 608 players responded to a battery of questionnaire. It consisted of: 1) socio-demographic data (gender, age, family situation, education); 2) measures of gambling; 3) alcohol consumption; 4) measures of anxiety and depression and 5) socio-cognitive measures (cognitive distortions and self-confidence). Results: We notice that our population in majority, consists of women (39% men, 60% women) with a mean age of 53 (Agemin: 17 years, Agemax:76 years, S.D.: 15.97); 55% were married or living together. Only 23.7%(N = 144) of subjects are in/off gamblers. With respect to consumptionof alcohol, 31.5% (N = 191) have problems with alcohol; 19.6% (N = 109)are at moderate risk of pathological gambling and 9% N = 55) arepathological gamblers. Mixed gamblers are significantly younger, playmore, have higher scores on problematic gambling, are more anxious andhave higher levels of alcohol consumption. They also have significantlyhigher scores on cognitive distortions (particularly on the dimensionof predictive control) but on the other hand, have lower levels ofconfidence with respect to their capacity to stop gambling as comparedto offline gamblers. Conclusion: Mixed gamblers are characterized by higher intensity with respect to pathological gambling and cognitive biases. Therefore, special attention should be paid to this fragile population. Some interventional and preventive approaches are proposed.in the conclusion section.