Problem gambling and psychological distress: a cross-national perspective on the mediating effect of consumer debt and debt problems among emerging adults
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oksanen2018 - p. 2
erious financial hardship is one of the negative long-lasting consequences of gambling [24, 33]. Excessive gamblers in particular begin to chase the win and may then end up losing even more [34, 35]. Due to these reasons, poor financial judgments, such as taking a loan or borrowing money with high interest rates, are part of the gambling pathology.
oksanen2018 - p. 3
The starting point is that both problem gambling and financial issues are related to psychological distress. Consumer debt provides resources for gambling which may further lead to debt problems (e.g., debt default or enforcement). We expected that consumer debt and debt problems mediate the relationship between problematic gambling and psychological distress. The role of consumer debt may, however, be context dependent.
oksanen2018 - p. 3
Study 1 used a demographically balanced sample of Finnish participants aged 18 to 25 years (n = 985, 50.76% female, mean age = 22.2, SD = 2.19) and was collected in March–April 2017. Study 2 used a convenience sample collected from Finnish discussion forums and social networking sites in April–June 2017. Study 3 was based on a demographically balanced sample of Americans aged 18 to 25 years (n = 883, 50.17% female, mean age = 21.54, SD = 2.36).
oksanen2018 - p. 4
Psychological distress was measured with the widely used 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). It evaluates the current state of psychological wellbeing with questions such as “have you recently felt constantly under strain” [49, 54, 55].
oksanen2018 - p. 4
Problem gambling was measured with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). The SOGS has been widely used in both Finland and the USA to measure problem gambling [59–62]. The SOGS reviews gambling activities from the past 12 months and scrutinizes factors indicating potential gambling problems.
oksanen2018 - p. 4
Consumer debt was measured in the Finnish surveys with a question “Have you ever taken instant loans, payday loans or consumer credit?”
oksanen2018 - p. 5
Debt problems were screened in the Finnish survey with the question “have you ever had your debt been enforced.” The Finnish word “ulosotto” refers to the enforcement process and it is explicit to the Finnish respondents. Within the Finnish system, creditors can request a court statement to start enforcement, after which the Finnish state enforcement authorities will take care of the debt.
oksanen2018 - p. 5
Followed by the question on debt enforcement, the respondents were asked (a) whether they have taken care of their enforced debt, (b) whether they are still actively paying it back, or (c) whether they are currently considered as temporarily insolvent by the state.
oksanen2018 - p. 5
In the US survey, the respondents were asked “Have you ever experienced financial hardships that caused you default on payments, impacted your credit score, or got sent to collection agencies?”