Multilevel Contextual Analysis of Poker Cash Game Gambling.

This article examines the effect of gambling location on the frequency, expenditure, and time spent on cash game poker in relation to individual characteristics of gamblers. Data were drawn from a 2012 Québec epidemiological gambling survey. The quantitative analysis used multilevel methods to model the dual-level hierarchical design of gambling location (level 1) and individual characteristics nested within poker cash game players (level 2). The sample was comprised of 270 individuals aged 18 years and above and living in private homes, who reported gambling on poker cash games in the past 12 months. Participants reported their gambling habits in up to three locations: private homes, the casino, and the Internet. Demographic data included age, gender, education level, and income. Significant variation was reported between the three locations and the gameplay patterns variables, i.e. betting frequency, time, and spending. The most frequently reported gambling locations were private dwellings (87.4%), followed by casinos (15.9%), and the Internet (13.7%). Some interactions between location and the demographic variables were observed. Moreover, the multilevel analysis revealed an important relationship between the location and poker cash gambling behavior. This study reveals the significance of contextual factors as a fundamental element in gambling behaviors and highlights the need for prevention strategies that target specific high-risk contexts rather than individually based interventions.

Once online poker, always online poker? Poker modality trajectories over two years.

Online poker is considered more at-risk than land-based poker in terms of intense gambling behaviors and gambling problems. The development of many online gambling sites has raised public health concerns about the potential increase in online poker players. Longitudinal studies are useful to better understand the evolution of gambling behaviors; however, very few consider online poker players. Using a prospective design, this study aims to identify online and land-based trajectories over a two-year period and the factors influencing those trajectories. Results are based on data collected at three time-points over the course of a prospective cohort study conducted in Quebec (n = 304). A latent class growth analysis was performed to determine trajectories based on the main poker modality played, either online or land-based poker. Multinomial multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the correlates of poker playing trajectories. Over two years, three poker playing trajectories were identified, comprising two stable trajectories [stable land-based (51.5%) and stable online (36.3%)] and an unstable trajectory [unstable online land-based (12.1%)]. The second trajectory included online poker players at baseline who transitioned to land-based poker. Number of gambling activities increased the odds of being in the first trajectory as compared to the others. Severity of gambling problems was a significant predictor of the second "unstable" or the third "stable online" trajectories, but not for the first "stable land-based" poker trajectory. The majority of poker players remained in either the land-based or online trajectories over two years. No poker players transitioned from land-based to online poker.

Who are the young poker players? A latent class analysis of high school teenagers.

For the last 20 years, poker has been one of the most popular forms of gambling for adults. Although various studies have demonstrated the specific characteristics of these players, few studies have focused on teenagers playing poker. However, a better understanding of this activity among this vulnerable group would help to develop more effective strategies for preventing gambling problems. Thus, this study aims to identify, through latent class analysis, subgroups in that population and to assess co-occurrence across various characteristics typically associated with gambling behavior. The sample was constituted of 759 adolescents (70.8% boys; M age = 15.44 years, range = 14-19) recruited in high schools and who had played poker in the last year. The statistical fit indices revealed a four-class solution. Class 1 almost exclusively played simulated poker. Class 2 played poker exclusively in the school context. Class 3 played poker almost exclusively at home. Class 4 showed a very diversified pattern regarding their modalities of poker playing. Results of the logistic regression suggested that gambling related variables (e.g., time spent playing, reading about gambling strategies and diversity of gambling funding) were significant predictors of class membership. This study shows that there is a variety of profiles among young poker players. Although one profile has few risk factors, others have more factors associated with adults' gambling problems. These profiles suggest that specific prevention strategies are probably appropriate to reach these different groups of young people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Consistency of Adolescents' Self-Report of Gambling Age of Onset: A Longitudinal Study.

Studies suggest that youth who are exposed to their first gambling experience at an earlier age are at increased risk of developing problems. However, studies reporting age of onset of gambling exposure as a risk factor for gambling problems are cross-sectional by design and the relationship between both variables are sometimes inferred over extending periods of time. Methodologically speaking, it could induce a recall bias, a fact already documented in numerous areas of research related to high-risk conducts in adolescence. Thus, the goal of this study was twofold: to longitudinally describe, among adolescents, the level of discrepancy between reports of age of initiation to gambling activities, and to assess if the discrepancies could be associated with a certain number of known predictors of gambling participation. Additionally, recall period effect (e.g. time passed between answering the same question) was also assessed. Data were collected from a large longitudinal study on gambling among youth and four measurement times at 1-year interval were used, with only young people who have been introduced to gambling retained in the analyses (n =297; 63.3% boys; mean age = 15.25 years). Results revealed significant inconsistencies about age of initiation to gambling activity between measurement times. Moreover, results also revealed that age (e.g. being older) and time passed are significantly associated to the level of inconsistencies of self-reported age of initiation of gambling activity. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Co-morbidity Between Gambling Problems and Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Perspective of Risk and Protective Factors.

In both adolescents and adults, gambling problems and depressive symptoms co-occur and share some common risk factors (e.g., impulsivity and socio-family risk). However, little is known about (1) the developmental course of the co-morbidity of these problems; (2) variables that may moderate the effect of these common risk factors on gambling problems and depressive symptoms. Of specific interest could be individuals' social relationships with significant others such as parents and friends, because research shows that they moderate the effect of other risk factors on gambling problems and depressive symptoms. The goals of this study were to: (a) identify developmental pathways for gambling problems and depressive symptoms, with a focus on co-morbidity; (b) assess the moderating effect of relationship quality with parents and friends on the link between common risk factors and the trajectories of gambling problems and depressive symptoms. Study participants were 878 males. Predictors were assessed during childhood and adolescence and gambling problems and depressive symptoms were assessed in late adolescence and young adulthood. Latent class analysis revealed four distinct joint trajectories of gambling problems and depressive symptoms. Subsequent logistic regression revealed that impulsivity predicted membership in all pathogenic trajectories, and quality of the relationship with parents predicted membership in depressogenic trajectories. In addition, we found that the membership in the comorbid trajectory can be predicted by an interaction between friendship quality and socio-family risk.

Contributions of ectoparasite studies in archaeology with two examples from the North Atlantic region.

Human and animal ectoparasites are often recovered from archaeological contexts being examined for preserved insect remains. Records of human lice, fleas and bedbugs are used to reconstruct past sanitary conditions and practices, as well as their geographic distribution and that of the pathogens for which they may be vectors. Ectoparasites of domesticated and wild animals may be considered proxy indicators for the presence of those animals whilst also inferring activities such as wool processing. This paper summarizes the contribution of ectoparasite studies in archaeology and presents two original case studies from Iceland and Greenland.

Longitudinal links between impulsivity, gambling problems and depressive symptoms: a transactional model from adolescence to early adulthood.

BACKGROUND: Research shows high co-morbidity between gambling problems and depressive symptoms, but the directionality of this link is unclear. Moreover, the co-occurrence of gambling problems and depressive symptoms could be spurious and explained by common underlying risk factors such as impulsivity and socio-family risk. The goals of the present study were to examine 1) whether common antecedent factors explain the concurrent links between depressive symptoms and gambling problems, and 2) whether possible transactional links between depressive symptoms and gambling problems exist from late adolescence to early adulthood. METHODS: A total of 1004 males from low SES areas participated in the study. RESULTS: Analyses revealed a positive predictive link between impulsivity at age 14 and depressive symptoms and gambling problems at age 17. In turn, gambling problems at age 17 predicted an increase in depressive symptoms from age 17 to age 23, and depressive symptoms at age 17 predicted an increase in gambling problems from age 17 to age 23. CONCLUSIONS: Common antecedent factors may explain the initial emergence of an association between depressive symptoms and gambling problems in adolescence. However, once emerged, their escalation seems to be better explained by a mutual direct influence between the two sets of disorders.