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Testing the Acquired Preparedness Model: Predicting College Student Gambling Frequency and Symptomatology

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Abstract

The acquired preparedness model posits that impulsivity influences the development of outcome expectancies that then influence the engagement in a specific risk taking behavior. The purpose of this study was to test the acquired preparedness model for gambling behavior of college students using a multidimensional approach to impulsivity. Employing a structural equation approach, it was predicted that a full mediational model that includes multiple dimensions of impulsivity and multiple outcome expectancies would predict gambling frequency and gambling symptomatology. Support was found for the acquired preparedness model in understanding why some college students gamble more frequently or problematically. Specifically, better model fit was found for the full mediational model that included outcome expectancies to predict both frequency and gambling symptomatology than the model that included the direct relation between impulsivity and gambling.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institution on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students: BARCS: RO1 AA016599 and RC1 AA019036 to Dr. Godfrey Pearlson). This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institution on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to Dr. Godfrey Pearlson. We would like to thank R. Rosen, R. E. Jiantonio-Kelly, and J. Sistante from Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Hartford Hospital; S.A. Raskin from Trinity College Department of Psychology; H. Tennen from University of Connecticut Health Center; and C.S. Austad, R.M. Wood, and C.R. Fallahi from the Central Connecticut State University Department of Psychology for their assistance with portions of the data collection process. We would also like to thank the members of The Institute for Gambling Education and Research Lab (T.I.G.E.R.) for their assistance with review of manuscript drafts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA

    Meredith K. Ginley, James P. Whelan & Andrew W. Meyers

  2. School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA

    George E. Relyea

  3. Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Hartford Hospital, 200 Retreat Ave, Hartford, CT, 06106, USA

    Godfrey D. Pearlson

  4. Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Godfrey D. Pearlson

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  1. Meredith K. Ginley
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  2. James P. Whelan
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  3. George E. Relyea
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  4. Andrew W. Meyers
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  5. Godfrey D. Pearlson
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Correspondence to Meredith K. Ginley.

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The National Institution on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism did not have a role in the design of the study, data analysis, writing, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Ginley, M.K., Whelan, J.P., Relyea, G.E. et al. Testing the Acquired Preparedness Model: Predicting College Student Gambling Frequency and Symptomatology. J Gambl Stud 31, 907–919 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9445-6

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