How Does Problem Gambling Impact the Relationship Between Gambling Attitudes and Frequency?

Abstract

Individuals’ beliefs and perceptions about gambling are known to influence gambling behaviours. However, the associations between gambling attitudes, gambling frequency, and problem gambling are unclear within the existing literature. The study aimed to elucidate the relationship between gambling attitudes, gambling behaviour, and problem gambling, using responses to the 2018 Northern Territory Gambling Prevalence and Wellbeing Survey. Data from 1629 participants (Mage = 49.87 years; SD = 14.58 years; 51.63% female) who completed the Attitudes Towards Gambling Survey (ATGS), Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), and reported their gambling frequency were analysed. Prior to testing for moderation of the attitude-frequency path by PGSI risk category, the measurement model of the ATGS was assessed for invariance and one item was removed to improve its psychometric properties. Problem gambling severity moderated the relationship between attitudes towards gambling and gambling frequency. The relationship between attitudes towards gambling and gambling behaviour strengthened at higher levels of problem gambling. Results indicate that the higher the risk of problem gambling, the stronger the influence of gambling attitudes on gambling frequency. These findings are discussed in relation to cognitive dissonance, rationalisation, gambling motivation, and the potential implications for problem gambling prevention strategies.

Full text

ORIGINAL PAPER
Accepted: 20 February 2025
© The Author(s) 2025
Mal Flack
malcolm.ack@cdu.edu.au
1 FacultyofHealth,CharlesDarwinUniversity,EllengowanDrive,Brinkin,NT0810,Australia
2 ResearchersinBehaviouralAddictions,Alcohol,andDrugs(BAAD),CharlesDarwin
University,EllengowanDrive,Brinkin,NT0810,Australia
How Does Problem Gambling Impact the Relationship
Between Gambling Attitudes and Frequency?
Kim M.Caudwell1,2· Angelica FernandezCasanova1· MalFlack1,2
Journal of Gambling Studies
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-025-10379-x
Abstract
Individuals’beliefsand perceptionsabout gamblingare knowntoinuencegamblingbe-
haviours.However,theassociationsbetweengamblingattitudes,gamblingfrequency,and
problemgambling areunclear withintheexistingliterature.Thestudy aimedtoelucidate
therelationship betweengamblingattitudes, gamblingbehaviour,andproblem gambling,
usingresponsestothe2018 NorthernTerritoryGamblingPrevalenceandWellbeingSur-
vey.Datafrom1629 participants(Mage=49.87years; SD=14.58years;51.63% female)
whocompletedtheAttitudes TowardsGamblingSurvey(ATGS),ProblemGamblingSe-
verityIndex(PGSI),andreportedtheirgamblingfrequencywereanalysed.Priortotesting
for moderation of the attitude-frequency path by PGSI risk category, the measurement
modeloftheATGSwasassessedforinvarianceandoneitemwasremovedtoimproveits
psychometric properties. Problem gambling severity moderated the relationship between
attitudes towards gambling and gambling frequency.The relationship between attitudes
towardsgamblingandgamblingbehaviour strengthenedathigherlevelsof problemgam-
bling. Results indicate that the higher the risk of problem gambling, the stronger the
inuence of gambling attitudes on gambling frequency.These ndings are discussed in
relation to cognitive dissonance, rationalisation, gambling motivation, and the potential
implicationsfor problemgamblingprevention strategies.
Keywords Gambling·Attitudes·Attitudes towardsgamblingscale·Problem
gambling· Problemgamblingseverity index· Gamblingfrequency
Gamblingisa popular activityamongAustralians,with38% ofAustralian adults report-
inggamblingatleast once a week(AustralianGamblingResearch Centre, 2023). While
atthepopulation level, mostgamblerswill not experience signicantimpactsfrom their
gambling,others–includingfamiliesand communitymembers-mayexperience negative
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Journal of Gambling Studies
eects(Goodwinetal.,2017;Langhametal.,2016).Assuch,thetermproblem gambling
isusedtorefertogamblingthatleadstonegativeconsequencesandfunctionaldisruptions
(Delfabbro,2013).Importantly,problemgamblingisnotexclusivetothoseexhibitingclini-
calsymptoms;itisestimatedthattwiceasmanypeopleexperiencenegativeconsequences
fromtheirgamblingactivitiesthanmeetclinicalthresholdsforgamblingdisorder(Austra-
lianGovernmentProductivityCommission,2010).Assuch,gambling-related harmisused
toreferto the negative consequencesofgambling activities which couldbeexperienced
morebroadly–bythegamblerthemselves,butalsobythoseconnectedtothem(Delfabbro
& King, 2019; Goodwin et al., 2017).Accordingly, gambling-related harm has attracted
considerableattentionfrom researchersattemptingto quantify theimpactof gambling at
populationlevels,toshapepoliciesandinterventionsthatcanreduceproblemgamblingand
relatedharm(Browneetal.,2021;Goodwinetal.,2017).
Attitudes Towards Gambling
Attitudes(i.e.,evaluativebeliefs)towardbehavioursareinuentialdeterminantsofbehav-
iouralengagement, andtherefore areoften primarytargetsinattemptstochangepeople’s
behaviour (Ajzen et al., 2018). Indeed, gambling advertising attempts to foster positive
attitudestowardsgambling,bynormalising,glamorising,andincentivisinggambling(Bou-
guettaya et al., 2020). On the other hand, public health and regulatory approaches may
fosterlesspositiveormorenegativebeliefsaboutgambling,byconveyingtheriskofharm
(Muñozetal.,2013).Givenattitudechangeconferssmalltomediumeectsinrelationto
healthbehaviourchange(Sheeranetal.,2016),andpromptshelp-seekingbehaviour(Rosen
etal., 2020),interventions maybringaboutconsiderablereductionsinproblem gambling
atthepopulationlevel.Similarly,attitudes towardgamblingareoftenusedasa proxyfor
publicsupportofgamblingregulationandsupportprograms(Donaldsonetal.,2016).
Generally speaking, higher positive gambling attitudes correspond with higher gam-
blingengagement(e.g.,Canaleetal.,2016;Flack&Morris,2017;Kristensenetal.,2023;
McAllister,2014).Similarly,longitudinalresearchamongadolescentshasshowngambling
attitudesbecomemorepositiveasgamblingparticipationincreases(Pallesenetal.,2016).
However,therelationshipbetweenattitudesandproblemgamblingappearsmorecomplex,
withsomestudiesreporting positive associations (e.g.,Andrà et al., 2022; Canale etal.,
2016; Zhou et al., 2019), negative associations (Donaldson et al., 2016; Dowling et al.,
2021),ornoassociationatall(Dixonetal.,2016).Whiletherearevariousattitudinalmea-
suresof gamblingthroughoutthe literature,perhaps themostwidely usedmeasure isthe
AttitudeTowardsGamblingScale (ATGS;Wardle, 2007).Arecent systematic reviewby
Kristensen et al. (2023) reviewed of the use of theATGSacross the available gambling
literature,conrming thatattitudesandgamblingfrequencyarepositivelyassociated,and
observingmixedndings inrelationto associations betweenattitudesand problemgam-
bling.Theauthorsobservethatthoseexperiencinggamblingproblemsarelikelytobemore
frequentgamblers,andmorefrequentgamblersendorsemorepositive gamblingattitudes.
Althoughthesendingsareinformative,thereviewwasnotabletodeterminethestrength
orthevariabilityofthepositiverelationshipsbetweenattitudesandgamblingfrequencyor
probewhetherproblemgamblingseverityinuencedthisrelationship.
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Elucidatingtheroleofproblemgamblingintheattitude-frequencyrelationshipmayhelp
toinformpersuasion-basedattitudinalchangeinpublichealthandclinicalsettings,reducing
gambling-relatedharmandtheincidenceofproblemgambling.Notably,arecentmeta-anal-
ysisofglobalgamblingparticipationhasestimated8.7%ofadultsengageinany-riskgam-
bling(i.e.,engagementinanylevelofgamblingriskbehaviours),withaproportionof1.4%
engagingin problematicgambling(Tranet al.,2024). Givengambling-relatedmessaging
isintendedtopromotesafergamblingatthepopulationlevel,itisimportanttoconsiderthe
eectofgamblingattitudesongamblingfrequencyinrelation toproblemgambling(e.g.,
Newalletal.,2024).Forinstance,arecentmeta-analysisbyJoyal-Desmaraisetal.(2022)
outlineshowthepersuasivenessofmessagingisdependentonthecongruenceofthemes-
sagewithaperson’sunderlyingbeliefs.Specically,positivematchingincreasestheeec-
tivenessof persuasion(byanaverageeect sizeof r=.20),negatively matchedmessages
mayunderminepersuasiveeectsinrelationtoattitudeandsubsequentbehaviourchange–
orleadthem tobackre. Indeed,“boomerangeects” havebeenobserved inresponsible
gamblingmessagingforproblemgamblersspecically,wheremessagesappeartoincrease
normativeperceptionsofgambling(DeJansetal.,2023).Forinstance,aresponsiblegam-
blingmessagethatsuggestsothersarealsoexperiencinggambling-relatedharmmayleada
problemgamblertoassumetheirownexperiencesarecommon.
Thepresentstudythereforeaimedtoascertaintheextenttowhichthegamblingattitude-
frequencyrelationshipwasdependentonthelevelofproblemgambling,usingalarge-scale
sample.
Methods
Procedure
AsecondarydataanalysiswasconductedusingdatafromtheNorthernTerritory(NT)2018
GamblingPrevalenceandWellbeingSurvey(Stevensetal.,2019).Theoriginalsurveycol-
lecteddatafrom5000NTresidents,aged18andover,viaphoneinterviewusingarandom
selectionof phonenumbers. Priortoanalysingtherelationshipbetweenthevariablesand
testingthe moderationmodel,participants wereexcluded iftheyhadnotreported engag-
ing in gambling activities over the last year, or did not complete the problem gambling
screen.Analyseswere conductedusing IBMSPSS Statistics29.0. Missingvalue analysis
revealed<5%oftheattitudemeasuredataweremissing,withLittle’sMCARtestnon-sig-
nicant:χ2(269)=267.26,p=.519.Multipleimputationwasthereforeusedformissingval-
ues,usinganExpectation-Maximisation(EM)approach,leadingtoasampleofN=1629.
Measures
Problem Gambling
TheProblemGamblingSeverityScale(PGSI)fromtheCanadianProblemGamblingScale
(Ferris&Wynne,2001)wasusedtomeasureproblemgambling.Nineitemsarescoredon
afour-pointLikertscale(0=never1=sometimes,2=mostofthetime,3=almostalways),
withfouritemsreferringtoproblemgamblingbehaviours(e.g.,Howoftenhavedoyoubet
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morethan youcanaordtolose? )and theothervereferringtonegativeconsequences
ofgambling(e.g.,howoftenhasyourgamblingcausedyouanyhealthproblems,including
stressoranxiety?),withthetotalscorecommonlyusedtoassessproblemgamblingsever-
ity(Tsengetal.,2023).ThePGSIscoresalsoallowforclassifyingparticipantsintodier-
entriskcategories:0=norisk,1–2=lowrisk,3–7=moderaterisk,≥8=problemgambling
(Ferris&Wynne,2001).
Attitudes Towards Gambling
Attitudesweremeasuredwiththe8-itemversionoftheAttitudesTowardsGamblingScale
(ATGS-8; Canale et al., 2016). TheATGS-8 is the shorter form of the original 14-item
scale,which wasdesignedtogainabroadideaofthe attitudestowards gamblingin gen-
eralandtoassesstheopinionsongamblinginthegeneralcommunity(Wardle,2007).The
ATGS-8usesave-pointLikertscalewhereeachitemisendorsedfromstronglyagree(5)
to strongly disagree (1). Four items are phrased to expressed negative attitudes towards
gambling(e.g.,gamblingshouldbediscouraged)andtheotherfourphrasedtoexpressposi-
tiveattitudestowardsgambling(e.g.,gamblinglivensuplife);thelatteritemsarerecoded,
meaninghigherscoresindicatemorepositiveattitudes.
Gambling Frequency
Participantsindicatedthe number of timestheyparticipatedin lotteries, bingo,racetrack
betting,casinotable games,sportsbetting,raes/sweeps,keno,pokies,instantscratchies,
informal(e.g.,card-based)andnon-sportseventbetting(e.g.,awards),andothergambling
withinthe previous12 months.The responseprovided foreachactivitywasconvertedto
numberofdaysperyear,andgamblingfrequencywascalculatedbysummingthenumber
oftimesapersonengagedinalltheactivitiesoverthepreviousyear.
Results
Participants
Participants(Mage=49.87years,SDage=14.58years;51.63%female)wereresidentsofthe
NorthernTerritory,with16.82%identifyingasAboriginalorTorresStraitIslanders,andthe
majorityof theparticipants (94.17%)reportingspeakingEnglishastheirhousehold main
language.Statistics for12-month frequencybygamblingtype,acrossage,sex,andPGSI
riskstatusareincludedinTable1.
Preliminary Analyses
Thefactor structureof theATGS-8was initiallyexamined toensure consistencybetween
thoseexhibitingnoriskofproblemgambling(i.e.,PGSI=0),tothosewithanyriskofprob-
lemgambling (i.e.,PGSI≥1),consistentwithpreviousresearch(Donaldson etal., 2016).
AninvariancetestingapproachwasundertakenusingconrmatoryfactoranalysesinIBM
SPSSAMOS v. 28, involving testing successive restrictions on the measurement model
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Table 1 Descriptivestatisticsforgamblingfrequencybytype,acrossage,sex,andPGSIrisk(i.e.,PGSI<1,PGSI≥1)
Variable Category nPokies Racing Scratchies Keno Lotto Bingo Casinogames Sportsbetting
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Agerange 18–34 274 15.54 46.42 30.63 84.85 7.35 11.67 17.24 46.81 31.53 212.81 9.11 16.53 5.34 7.41 23.82 40.14
35–49 499 17.57 31.98 18.90 43.58 10.20 34.90 22.67 52.48 23.34 34.69 13.30 34.33 3.82 6.58 22.16 36.80
50–64 596 24.26 58.75 31.89 67.38 12.64 18.62 25.92 47.65 35.50 128.35 27.58 28.83 9.25 18.77 28.23 40.13
65+ 260 25.97 35.58 34.19 83.20 28.72 38.54 30.55 50.76 36.99 42.30 43.44 54.52 2.88 3.72 11.20 11.22
Sex Male 788 23.77 53.36 42.09 80.31 16.09 37.42 30.17 56.95 35.54 117.50 9.00 19.05 6.85 12.36 25.45 37.36
Female 841 18.58 39.75 7.62 28.96 11.34 19.93 18.06 39.46 27.77 114.04 23.40 37.04 2.33 2.64 14.74 38.99
PGSIRisk Norisk 1115 15.97 37.89 19.33 50.75 13.11 23.80 20.38 40.65 31.36 138.02 20.33 33.24 4.52 11.58 23.01 36.04
Atrisk 514 25.95 53.30 39.35 81.92 13.45 33.48 30.41 60.39 32.18 45.02 24.29 40.38 6.34 9.71 24.05 39.34
Note.Frequenciesforinformalbetting,non-sportseventbetting,and‘other’gamblingareexcludedduetolowf requenciesacrosscategories
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(i.e.,congural,metric, and scalarinvariance),and assessingforreductions in modelt.
Theadoptedthreshold forinvariancewaswheretheassociateddecrementinCFIwasless
than0.010,andinRMSEAlessthan0.015(Chen,2007).Whenassessingscalarinvariance,
highstandardisedresidualcovariancesimplicatedtheATGS-8item7(i.e.,“gamblinglivens
uplife”),withat-testconrmingthatmeanscoresonthisitemwerestatisticallysignicant
fortheriskcategories(p<.001).Theinvariancetestwasconductedwiththeitemremoved,
andthemodied scale (i.e.,“ATGS-7”)was tested formodelt and invariance,deemed
acceptable1andusedinsubsequentanalyses.ModelresultsforbothATG-8andATG-7are
includedinTable2.
Descriptive statistics and correlations are shown in Table 3. Overall, the respondents
reported unfavourable attitudes towards gambling (M=21.01, SD=5.12).A correlational
analysis indicated a positive relationship between gambling attitude and gambling fre-
quency (r=.16, p<.001); no signicant correlation between PGSI score an ATG7 was
observed(p=.899).
Moderation Analyses
Totestthehypothesisthatproblemgamblingwouldmoderatetherelationshipbetweenatti-
tudestowardsgamblingandgamblingfrequency,thePROCESSv4.3Macro(Hayes,2018)
wasused(i.e.,Model1),withthePGSItotalscoreasthemoderatingvariable,andageand
genderascovariates.AsthePGSIcanbeusedtodierentiatelevelsofrisk,Helmertcod-
ingwasusedtoprobetheinteractionatthenorisk(n=1115),lowrisk(n=342),moderate
risk(n=131)andatrisk(n=41)categories,tofacilitatecomparisonofthemeansforeach
groupwiththoseordinallyhigher(Hayes&Montoya,2017).Overall,themodelaccounted
for10.87%ofthevarianceingamblingfrequency,F(9,1604)=21.74,p<.001.Resultsof
theHelmertapproachtoprobingthemoderationeectareincludedinTable4,withavisual
depictionoftheinteractionincludedinFig.1.
Discussion
Thecurrentstudyattemptedto furtherelucidatetheassociationbetweenattitudestogam-
bling and gambling frequency,taking into account the experience of problem gambling.
Specically,thestudyaimed totestthe hypothesisthatproblem gambling wouldmoder-
atetheeect ofattitudeson gambling frequency.Resultsindicatedtwo key ndings:(1)
thepositiveassociationbetweenattitudesandfrequencywereampliedinhigherproblem
gamblingriskcategories, whiletherelationship between attitudesandproblem gambling
was not signicant; (2) that when comparing no risk to any risk problem gamblers, the
ATGS-8appearsnon-invariant.Thesendingsrequirefurtherdiscussionandillustratethe
importanceofconsideringproblem gambling in relationtothemeasurement of attitudes
andwork toestablishassociations betweenattitudes andgamblingfrequency (Kristensen
etal.,2023).
1 Scalar invariance was essentially conrmed; though the CFI decreased slightly,the RMSEA, which is
arguablymoresensitivetononinvariantmodelsinlargersamples(i.e.,N>300;Chen,2007),remainedwell
withintherecommendedthreshold.
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Thending thatattitudes towardsgambling areassociated withgambling frequencyis
consistent with previous research (Canale et al., 2016; Flack & Morris, 2017; McAllis-
ter,2014).Whilethese ndings supportthe notion thatchanginggambling attitudesmay
changegamblingfrequency,thepresenceofproblemgamblingasamoderatorindicatesthat
attitude-behaviour relationships should not be investigated without considering problem
gamblingseverity.
Therearearangeofplausibleinterpretationsforthismoderationeect.Oneexampleis
cognitive dissonance(Festinger &Carlsmith,1959)–thedistress experiencedby anindi-
vidualwhentheirbeliefsandbehavioursareincongruent.Cognitivedissonanceisthought
tocreateamotivationalimpetustochangeone’sattitudesorbehaviourtoalleviatedistress
Table 2 MeasurementmodelinvariancetestscomparingthePGSI‘norisk’categorysubsampletothePGSI
‘anyrisk’subsamplefortheATGS-8andATGS-7
Sample/Invariance χ2df CFI RMSEA ∆CFI ∆RMSEA
ATGS-8 Fullsample(n=1629) 197.68 20 0.939 0.065 - -
Norisk(n= 11 1 5 ) 154.5 20 0.937 0.078 - -
Anyrisk(n=514) 69.51 20 0.937 0.069 - -
Conguralinvariance 224.01 40 0.937 0.053 - -
Metric 228.99 47 0.938 0.049 0.001 0.004
Scalar 293.85 55 0.919 0.052 0.019 0.003
ATGS-7 Fullsample 107.13 14 0.961 0.064 - -
Norisk 78.57 14 0.964 0.064 - -
Anyrisk 44.58 14 0.951 0.065 - -
Congural 123.51 28 0.961 0.046 - -
Metric 127.27 34 0.961 0.041 <0.001
Scalar 140.04 41 0.959 0.039 0.003
Note. ATGS-7=Attit udes Towards Gambling Survey 7-item; PGSI=Problem Gambli ng Severity
Index. Cr iteria for model t: CF I>0.95, RMSEA<0.08. Crite ria for invaria nce testing, ∆CFI<−0.01;
∆RMSEA<−0.015(Chen,2007)
Table 3 Descriptivestatisticsandcorrelationsbetweenvariablesforthesample
Variable Min Max MSD 1 2 3 4
1.ATG7 7 35 18.54 4.54 0.77
2.PGSI 0 22 0.88 2.14 −0.02 0.81
3.Frequency 12706 59.10 129.31 0.16** 0.26** -
4.Age 18 92 49.87 14.58 0.02 −0.10** 0.08* -
5.Gender - - −0.19** −0.07* −0.12** −0.03
Note.ATGS-7=AttitudesTowardsGambling Survey 7-item; PGSI=Problem GamblingSeverityIndex.
Genderwascoded1(male)and2(female).*p<.01.**p<.001.Cronbach’sαvaluesareincludedalongthe
principaldiagonal
Contrast(PGSIScore) b SE t p95%CI
0vs.≥1 8.90 1.98 4.50 <0.001 [5.01,12.79]
1–2 vs. ≥ 3 9.24 3.01 3.07 0.002 [3.34,15.14]
3 to 7 vs. ≥ 8 13.12 5.21 2.52 0.012 [2.90,23.35]
Note.R2= 0 . 11 ,  F(9,1604)=21.58,p= . 0 0 2
Table 4 Resultsofhelmertcon-
trastsforthemoderatingeectof
PGSIriskcategoryongambling
Attitude-Frequencypath
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Journal of Gambling Studies
(Cooper, 2019), which may facilitate avoiding disconrming information, and engaging
in motivated reasoning (e.g., Gillespie, 2020). Potentially,as people with positive gam-
bling attitudes experience gambling-related harm, instead of gambling less frequently,
theymight rationalisetheir gamblingexperiences tomaintain overallfavourable attitudes
towardsgambling.Indeed,rationalisationhasbeennotedasaformofdissonancemanage-
mentinqualitativeresearchwithEGMplayers(Hahmann&Monson,2021).Similarly,the
tendencytorationalisecontinuedgamblingdespiteaccruing mountinglosses mayalsobe
partly explained by the motives or expectancies underlying gambling, which are known
to dier between non-problem and problem gamblers. For instance, gambling to escape
or manage undesired emotional states is consistently associated with problem gambling
(Alaba-Ekpoetal.,2024;Leeetal.,2024).
Thoughspeculative,theexperienceofcognitivedissonanceandrationalisingcontinued
gamblingduetotheanticipatedemotionalbenetsmaymaintainpositiveattitudesathigher
levelsof problemgambling riskand isworthexploringfurtherinpublichealthandclini-
calcontexts.Whentheimmediateperceivedbenetsofgamblingoutweighthe perceived
losses,positiveattitudesmayremainentrenchedandresistanttoconventionalharmreduc-
tionmessaging(DeJansetal.,2023;Delfabbro&King,2020).Strategiesaimedatchang-
ing attitudes may do well to induce dissonance (e.g., Wan & Chiou, 2010), and educate
Fig. 1 PlotofregressionslopesatdierentPGSIriskcategories
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Journal of Gambling Studies
gamblersonthetendencyto resolve cognitive dissonance through rationalisation,which
maybedeliveredaspartofacompletementoftechniquesthatconstitutejust-in-timeadap-
tiveinterventionsthatincorporatedynamictailoring(Dowlingetal.,2023).
A dierent, but equally important nding, was that the ATGS-8 was not invariant
betweenPGSIno riskandrisk categories.Thiswas unanticipatedandhas to theauthors
knowledgenotbeenformallyexplored,andwarrantssomeconsideration.Thattheremoved
item(“gamblinglivensuplife”)improvedthetoftheATGSimpliesitissomewhatcon-
ceptuallydistinctfromotheritems(i.e.,thatarelargelyframedaroundtheextenttowhich
gamblingshouldbe controlled,orwhetherornotitisgoodorbadoverall).Itmaybethat
individualsatanylevelofriskforproblemgamblingmayinterpretanitemframedaround
improvinglifeakintoamotiveoroutcomeexpectancy;suchasanticipationthatgambling
willalleviatenegativeaect(Caudwelletal.,2024),orotherwisemanagedisorderedmood
symptoms(Vaughan&Flack,2022).WhiletheATGS-8hasbeenfoundtobegenderinvari-
ant,this study’sndingsindicateitsstructureshouldbeinvestigatedinrelevantcontexts,
especiallywithrespecttogamblingmodalityandmotives(Richardson etal.,2023). More
targetedresearchinthisspacewouldallowfortherenementoftheATGSandimproveits
relevanceandinterpretationinavarietyofresearchcontexts.
Giventheinconsistenciesingamblingattitude-problem gamblingcorrelationsthrough-
outtheextant literature(Kristensenet al.,2023),the present ndingsagainhighlight the
importance of considering contextual elements that may inuence the formation of atti-
tudes,engagementwithgamblingbehaviours,andexperienceofproblemgamblingsever-
ity,andconclusionsabouttheirinterrelationships.Forinstance,researchinyoungersamples
(e.g.,Dixonetal.,2016)mayintroduceooreectswhereindividuals arerestrictedfrom
engaginginhigherriskformsofgambling);similarly,universitystudentsamplesappearto
holdmorenegativeattitudestowardsgamblingandbeatlowerriskofgamblingproblems
thanthoseinthegeneralpopulation(Gainsburyetal.,2014).Ofnotetoo,isthatpublicly-
sampledattitudestoward gamblingmaybe generallynegativewhen participantsconate
gamblingwithproblem gambling(Delfabbro&King,2021).Thisisespeciallyimportant,
giventhe roleoftheATGSincapturingattitudesthatmaychangeasaresultof policyor
publicscrutinyongamblingregulation(e.g.,Donaldsonetal.,2016).Futureresearchmay
alsoneed toinvestigateattitude-frequency associationsinpurposive, higherrisk contexts
(e.g.,treatment-seekingsamples)orsubsamplesfrompopulation-basedresearch(e.g.,age
groups,gender),orwithfocusonpreferredgamblingtype,andpursuelongitudinaldesigns
thatmay complementthepathways approachtoproblemgambling(Billieux etal.,2022;
Noweretal.,2022).Suchresearchcaninformattitudeandbehaviourchangeinterventions
thatmaybedependentonproblemgamblingstatus.
Limitations and Future Research
Whilethisstudymakesanimportantcontributiontotheattitude-gamblingfrequencylitera-
ture,somelimitationswarrantconsideration.Firstly,thescaleofprevalencestudiesnecessi-
tatestheuseofself-reportmeasures,yetintroducesissuesinrelationtoparticipantaccuracy
of reported gambling behaviours and problem gambling retrospectively (i.e., recalling
behaviouroverthelast12months).Secondly,thestudy’scross-sectionaldesignprecludes
denitivestatementsaboutcausality.Futureresearchshouldadoptlongitudinaldesignsto
consolidateunderstandingofthepatternsofgamblingattitudedevelopment,andinuence
ongamblingbehaviour,overtime.Finally,thestudy’sndingsarebasedonapopulation-
1 3
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Journal of Gambling Studies
basedsurveyoftheNorthernTerritoryofAustralia,whichareundoubtedlyshapedbyspe-
ciccultural andlegislativedynamics,whichlimitsthegeneralisability ofthe ndingsto
other contexts. Future research, especially that involving large-scale prevalence studies,
shouldattempttoreplicatethendings–particularlythoseinrelationtheattitudemeasure-
mentinvariance–inothernationalandculturalcontexts.
Conclusion
Thepresentstudyshowsthattheinvestigationoftheassociationbetweengamblingattitudes
andfrequencyneedstoconsiderproblemgamblingrisk.Specically,theattitudesofthose
who are in higher risk problem gambling categories appear to have a more pronounced
eectongamblingfrequency.Thendingsofthisstudycarryimportantimplicationsforthe
measurementofgamblingattitudesindierentcontexts,especiallyinrelationtothemea-
surementofattitudesinproblemgamblers.Theyalsoindicatethat attitudechangeamong
problemgamblersmayneedtoaordagreaterroletocognitivedissonanceandmotivation
forgambling,andthepropensityofproblemgamblers torationalisetheirexperiencesand
maintainoverallpositiveattitudestowardgambling.
Funding OpenAccessfundingenabledandorganizedbyCAULanditsMemberInstitutions
Open Access  This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
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