Coping strategies and gambling

There are many different ways and places for people to gamble these days yet relatively few people go on to develop gambling problems. It has been suggested that individual personality traits or behavioural styles may predispose some people to develop gambling problems. A study of the coping strategies of 65 people by researchers at Monash University, Australia, compared people with gambling problems to those without. Problem gamblers were more likely to be depressed and to use distancing coping strategies ; denying problems, attempting to detach themselves from them and minimising their significance. The gamblers were also more likely to use confrontational coping ; tackling problems head on in a risky or aggressive manner.

Farrelly, Simone ... [et al] - Coping strategies and problem gambling Behaviour Change 24(1), 2007, 14-24