Gambling and Alcohol Expectancy among College Students

This study examined the relation between gambling behavior, alcohol consumption level, and positive alcohol expectancies. At a Mid-western university, 1053 college students (female = 814) completed South Oaks Gambling Screen (Lesieur & Blume, 1987), the Quantity-Frequency-Variability Index (Cahalan, Cissin, & Crossley, 1969), and the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (Brown, Christiansen, & Goldman, 1987) online as part of a larger survey. A 2 x 3 analysis of variance was conducted and found that the interaction between gambling behavior (non-gamblers and gamblers) and levels of alcohol consumption (heavy, light to moderate, and Infrequent to Abstinent drinkers) were significant in three alcohol expectancies: positive global changes, social and physical pleasure enhancement, and increased social assertiveness. Gambling behavior was found to have a significant effect on the social and physical pleasure enhancement alcohol expectancy. Alcohol consumption was found to be significant with all expectancies, except for arousal and aggression. This suggests that the effect between gambling and alcohol expectancies vary according to consumption level specifically for global and socially-related expectancies. Gambling and Alcohol Expectancy among College Students Gamblers cost this nation an estimated 5 billion dollars a year (Kluger, August, Gibson, Isackson, Masters & Ressner, 2005), due to arrests, incarcerations, bankruptcies, divorce, job loss, unemployment benefits, and health insurance for gambling-related physical and mental problems (Gerstein et al., 1999). Yet, gambling has been a relatively ignored problem in the history of mental health, only gaining inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM III) in 1980. Additionally, the recent increase of gambling accessibility in the United States has brought attention to and scrutiny of the gambling behaviors of adolescents and young adults (LaBrie, Shaffer, LaPlante & Wechler; 2003). Gambling research is still in its infancy (Grant, Kushner & Kim, 2002) and researchers have not to come to agreement about whether any of the existing treatments are effective to combat gambling disorders (Petry, 2005), possibly because it is complicated by comorbidity, or simultaneous occurrence, with other disorders. This study will explore the comorbidity between gambling and alcohol use. In 1999, the National Research Council Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of Pathological Gambling concluded that “the co-occurrence of other disorders may be one of the most important and influential indicators of the pathways into and out of pathological gambling” (Cottler, 2003). Recent studies have found a significant comorbidity between gambling and alcohol (Gerstein et al., 1999; Petry, 2005; Welte et al., 2001). In fact, according to Lesieur and Blume (1987), drinking alcohol while gambling is a common practice. Several studies found that alcohol use in individuals with gambling disorders is four or more times higher than those without gambling disorders (Bland, Newman, Orn & Stebelsky, 1993; Crockford & El-Guebaly, 1998; Cunningham-Williams, Cottier, Compton & Spitznagel, 1998; Smart & Ferris, 1996; Spunt, Lesieur, Hunt & Cahill, 1995; Welte et al., 2001). Combining alcohol use with gambling is a great concern because previous findings suggest that alcohol use lowers a person’s inhibitions, weakens a person’s ability to make decisions (Baron & Dickerson, 1989; Grant, Kushner & Kim), and shifts the focus on the most immediate outcomes rather than the actual odds and losses (Steele & Johnson, 1998). Jarvis found that casinos are quite aware of these studies, using techniques that manipulate individuals to increase their gambling behavior (1997). Some casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada even offer free alcoholic beverages to patrons who gamble. Although research is beginning to provide evidence supporting the importance of attention to comorbid behaviors, treatment for comorbid problem gamblers and substance abusers is not routine (Maccallum & Blaszczynsky, 2002). Further examination of comorbid interactions will facilitate future treatments for patients. This study is among the first to examine a possible link between gambling and drinking expectancies. Expectancies are beliefs about what a person “expects to gain (i.e., positive expectancies) or expects to lose (i.e., negative expectancies)” (Gillespie, Derevenski & Gupta, 2007), and past research has indicated that the beliefs an individual holds may influence his or her behavior (Brown, 1985). Individuals who consume alcohol hold alcohol expectancies (Cooper, Russel & George, 1988; Leigh, 1989; Oei & Young, 1999), and recent research suggests that an adolescent’s expectancy about the effects of drug and alcohol use affect the onset and continuation of these risky behaviors (Gillespie et al.). Over the past two decades, research has noted the importance of expectancies in alcohol consumption patterns and that positive expectancies are often associated with moderate and heavy drinking, despite having negative experiences (Abrams & Niaura, 1987; Gillespie et al.; O’Hare & Sherrer, 2001). For instance, college students with higher positive expectancies tend to report more social and/or emotional problems, such as mental disorders and problems with the law (O’Hare & Sherrer). However, Southwick, Steele, Marlatt & Lindell found that excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to higher reports of negative expectancies (1981), suggesting that there may be a consumption limit to positive expectancies. Positive expectancies also are found in gambling. Recently, Gillespie et al. created the Gambling Expectancy Questionnaire and found that youth with gambling-related problems expected gambling would lead to positive outcomes. How do alcohol expectancies fit into the alcohol and gambling comorbidity? Lipinski, Whelan, Meyers, and Watson conducted an unpublished study looking at the gambling behavior and the alcohol expectancies of college students (2006). They found that college students who received a placebo, but believed that they had consumed alcohol, gambled in a different manner than those who had actually consumed alcohol or was aware that they had not consumed alcohol. The authors concluded that expectations about alcohol may have influenced gambling. However, they did not explore what beliefs these gamblers had about the effects of gambling. Placing these concepts together, is it plausible to suspect that gamblers would have positive expectancies that are significantly different from people who do not gamble, and different dependent on how much alcohol a person consumes? To examine this question, this study’s hypothesis predicted that (1) gamblers would endorse more positive expectancies than non-gamblers and (2) heavy drinking gamblers will hold more positive expectancies than light to moderate drinkers, while light to moderate drinkers will hold more positive expectancies than infrequent to abstinent drinkers. Method