Risk, compensatory, and protective factors in problem gambling: The role of positive mental health characteristics

There is a limited evidence base from which to draw conclusions about compensatory and protective factors forproblem gambling. The aim of this study was to explore the potential for positive mental health characteristics(general coping, emotional support, spirituality, interpersonal skills, personal growth and autonomy, and globalaffect) to play a compensatory role and protective role in problem gambling in a convenience sample of 499Australian university students. Hazardous alcohol use, past-year substance use, gambling-related cognitions(interpretive bias, illusion of control, predictive control, gambling-related expectancies, and perceived inabilityto stop gambling), gambling high-risk situations (negative and positive reinforcement situations), and gamblingmotives (money, positive feelings, regulate internal state, and challenge) positively predicted problem gamblingseverity. None of the positive mental health characteristics negatively predicted problem gambling severity,suggesting that these factors did not play a compensatory role. However, emotional support, personal growthand autonomy, and global affect buffered the influence of gambling motives and high-risk situations, suggestingthat these factors played a protective role. In contrast, spirituality displayed a direct positive predictive re-lationship with problem gambling severity, suggesting that it served to act as a risk factor in this sample. Theidentification of these modifiable risk and protective factors has implications for the development of effectiveprevention and intervention initiatives. Further longitudinal research employing population-representativesamples is required to replicate these results and investigate relationship-, community-, and societal-level risk,compensatory and protective factors associated with the development of problem gambling.