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Effects of Alcohol and Initial Gambling Outcomes on Within-Session Gambling Behavior

DOI:10.1037/a0019114
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Jessica Cronce at University of Oregon
Jessica Cronce
William Corbin at Arizona State University
William Corbin
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Abstract

Concurrent drinking and gambling is prevalent among young adults and may increase negative consequences associated with each behavior. The effects of alcohol, initial gambling outcomes, gambling-related cognitions, and impulsivity on gambling behavior were evaluated. Initial gambling outcomes, gambling-related cognitions, and impulsivity were also assessed as potential moderators of the relation between alcohol and gambling behavior. Participants (N = 130) were randomly assigned to receive active placebo or alcohol (0.84 g/kg and 0.76 g/kg for men and women, respectively) and were invited to wager on a simulated slot machine programmed to produce 1 of 3 initial outcomes (win, breakeven, or loss) before beginning a progressive loss schedule. Alcohol consumption was associated with larger average bets and more rapid loss of all available funds, though no evidence was found for predicted main effects and interactions for gambling persistence. The effect of impulsivity was moderated by beverage condition, such that higher levels of impulsivity were associated with larger average bets for participants in the placebo but not the alcohol group. Results have direct implications for individual-focused and public-health interventions.
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Effects of Alcohol and Initial Gambling Outcomes on Within-Session
Gambling Behavior
Jessica M. Cronce and William R. Corbin
Yale University
Concurrent drinking and gambling is prevalent among young adults and may increase
negative consequences associated with each behavior. The effects of alcohol, initial gambling
outcomes, gambling-related cognitions, and impulsivity on gambling behavior were evalu-
ated. Initial gambling outcomes, gambling-related cognitions, and impulsivity were also
assessed as potential moderators of the relation between alcohol and gambling behavior.
Participants (N⫽130) were randomly assigned to receive active placebo or alcohol (0.84
g/kg and 0.76 g/kg for men and women, respectively) and were invited to wager on a
simulated slot machine programmed to produce 1 of 3 initial outcomes (win, breakeven, or
loss) before beginning a progressive loss schedule. Alcohol consumption was associated with
larger average bets and more rapid loss of all available funds, though no evidence was found
for predicted main effects and interactions for gambling persistence. The effect of impulsivity
was moderated by beverage condition, such that higher levels of impulsivity were associated
with larger average bets for participants in the placebo but not the alcohol group. Results have
direct implications for individual-focused and public-health interventions.
Keywords: alcohol, gambling, persistence, betting behavior, impulsivity
Late adolescence and young adulthood is marked by
engagement in risky behaviors, including frequent and
heavy use of alcohol (Arnett, 1992, 2000). Approximately
73% of Americans between the ages of 21 and 30 consume
alcohol at least monthly, 6% use alcohol daily, and over
37% engage in heavy episodic consumption (i.e., five or
more drinks on a single occasion in the past 2 weeks;
Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2008).
Rates of heavy episodic consumption and drinking to intox-
ication are consistently higher among college students rel-
ative to their noncollege peers (Johnston et al., 2008), in-
creasing their risk for experiencing harm associated with
alcohol misuse, including impaired academic performance,
legal involvement, sexual victimization, physical illness and
injury, and death (Perkins, 2002).
Most research on alcohol-related harm in college students
has focused on the influence of alcohol on other health-risk
behaviors common to this population, such as unsafe sexual
practices (Cooper, 2002), drug use (Mohler-Kuo, Jae, &
Wechsler, 2001), and aggression (Giancola, 2002). Gam-
bling is another health-risk behavior that is prevalent among
college students (Engwall, Hunter, & Steinberg, 2004;
Platz, Knapp, & Crossman, 2005) and can have serious
consequences, including impaired academic, occupational
and social functioning, financial losses, legal involvement,
and increased risk for comorbid mental illness and suicide
(American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Black & Moyer,
1998; Stinchfield, Hanson, & Olson, 2006). Gambling also
frequently co-occurs with alcohol use. Approximately 26%
of college students frequently or always drink when they
gamble (Giacopassi, Stitt, & Vandiver, 1998). The rela-
tively poor enforcement of minimum drinking age and
minimal cost of alcohol served to patrons who are actively
gambling encourages an even higher percentage of under-
age college students to engage in casino gambling in order
to obtain alcohol (35.4%; Giacopassi, Stitt, & Nichols,
2006).
Despite their demonstrable association, relatively little
research has been conducted on the co-occurrence of alco-
hol use and gambling, with even fewer studies evaluating
the impact of alcohol on gambling behavior. Maladaptive
behavior occurring within a single gambling session (i.e.,
continued play with the goal of recouping money lost earlier
in a gambling occasion) may set the stage for the develop-
ment of gambling psychopathology. This type of within-
Jessica M. Cronce and William R. Corbin, Department of Psy-
chology, Yale University.
William R. Corbin is now at the Department of Psychology,
Arizona State University.
This article was written in partial fulfillment of requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The current study was sup-
ported in part through funding from the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA; P50 AA012870, Yale
Center for Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism). We grate-
fully acknowledge constructive comments made by Drs. Kelly D.
Brownell, Stephanie S. O’Malley, Rebekka S. Palmer, and Mar-
garet S. Clark to earlier versions of this article. We also thank Dr.
Susan E. Collins for consultation provided regarding statistical
analyses. Jessica M. Cronce is now at the Department of Psychi-
atry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of
Washington.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Jessica M. Cronce, University of Washington, School of Medicine,
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for the
Study of Health and Risk Behaviors, Box 354944, Seattle, WA
98195. E-mail: jcronce@u.washington.edu
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology © 2010 American Psychological Association
2010, Vol. 18, No. 2, 145–157 1064-1297/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0019114
145
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... Again, there is some evidence of this, though thus far the findings have been mixed. For example in their laboratory study, Cronce and Corbin (2010) reported that participants in their alcohol condition made significantly larger bets than a placebo group, a result also reported in an earlier laboratory study by Ellery et al. (2005). Similarly, Sévigny et al. (2016) reported circumstantial evidence that those drinking moderate amounts of alcohol in the venue spent more money per hour on gambling than those who did not drink alcohol. ...
... As useful as they are, laboratory studies may be sensitive to unintended participant strategies. For example, Cronce and Corbin (2010) also reported a null effect of administered alcohol on participants' duration of laboratorysimulated EGM play. However, their participants were told that they could convert their unused credits into cash at any point in the experiment, highlighting a difficulty in non-naturalistic studies insofar as participants may have correctly anticipated that the simulation was programmed to take all their credits through a methodically implemented progressive loss schedule over the experimental period. ...
... From a physiological perspective, we know that alcohol binds to GABA-A neurotransmitter receptors, leading to a depressive effect on the central nervous system and subsequent slowing of reaction times. From this, we had hypothesised that we might find an increase in average length of play amongst those who usually consumed alcohol while gambling at a venue, though previous findings had been ambiguous, with some studies showing an effect (Baron & Dickerson, 1999;Ellery et al., 2005;Giacopassi et al., 1998;Kyngdon & Dickerson, 1999;Markham et al., 2012) and others, like ours, showing no effect on duration of play (Cronce & Corbin, 2010;Stewart et al., 2002). Together, these findings suggest that factors other than alcohol alone are determinants in the decision of a player to end a session, e.g. ...
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... Alcohol use may impair judgement on the costs and benefits of gambling, and is shown to be associated with larger bets and faster loss of available funds (Cronce & Corbin, 2010). However, one study looked at alcohol use and promotion in sport bars and concluded that, although both behaviours occurred at the same time, no strong reciprocal relationship between alcohol and gambling was identified (Pennay et al., 2021). ...
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