Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Behavioral Sciences, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3
Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
10.34172/ahj.2023.1352
Abstract
Background: The research literature about the relationship between alexithymia, risky decision-making, and gambling severity has
been contradictory and limited. Besides, there is no study on the mediating roles of self-compassion and emotion regulation in
online gambling. Moreover, the role of these mediators in gambling frequency has not been studied. Thus, the present study aimed
to investigate the relationship between alexithymia, risky decision-making, and gambling frequency by considering the mediating
role of self-compassion and emotion regulation in online gamblers.
Methods: A total of 319 Iranians who gambled online at least once a week in the past three months were investigated using
an online survey including Farsi Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (FTAS-20), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and
Gambling Disorder Screening Questionnaire-Persian (GDSQ-P). Statistical analyses were conducted by SPSS 26.0 for Windows.
The relationships between the variables were analyzed using correlation analysis. In cases where significant relationships were
observed, the hypotheses of the regression model were tested.
Findings: The mean age of the participants was 24.6±6.06 and 253 participants (73.9%) were male. Furthermore, no significant
differences were observed between men and women in terms of risky decision-making (P=0.051), gambling severity (P=0.59),
and age (P=0.293).
Conclusion: Alexithymia had both a direct and indirect relationship with gambling severity through the mediating roles of emotion
regulation and self-compassion. Moreover, alexithymia was significantly associated with risky decision-making and gambling
frequency, through the mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation, both directly and indirectly.
Highlights
Fatemeh Moheban: (Google Scholar) (PubMed)
Mohammadreza Davoudi: (Google Scholar) (PubMed)
Sepideh Tamrchi: (Google Scholar) (PubMed)
Keywords
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