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Metacognition in Pathological Gambling and Its Relationship with Anxious and Depressive Symptomatology

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Abstract

Gambling disorder is associated with elevated comorbidity with depressive and anxious disorders, and one variable that might help in the understanding of this association is metacognition. In the present study, the relationship between gambling and metacognition and the mediating role of metacognition in the relationship between gambling and depressive and anxious symptomatology were assessed. The sample comprised 124 pathological gamblers from centers that assist pathological gamblers and 204 participants from the general population. The results showed that pathological gamblers had higher levels of depressive and anxious symptomatology. Additionally, pathological gamblers had higher scores for positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs of uncontrollability and danger, and beliefs about the need to control thoughts; these factors were also positively correlated with depressive and anxious symptomatology. Metacognition also fully mediated the association between gambling and depressive and anxious symptomatology. These results suggest that metacognition could contribute to explaining gambling disorder and the symptomatology associated with it.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the Basque Government’s “Programa Predoctoral de Formación de Personal Investigador No Doctor”.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was ethically approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Deusto. Informed consent was requested to participate in the study.

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  1. Psychology Department, University of Deusto, Apartado 1, 48080, Bilbao, Spain

    Paula Jauregui, Irache Urbiola & Ana Estevez

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  1. Paula Jauregui
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  2. Irache Urbiola
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  3. Ana Estevez
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Correspondence to Paula Jauregui.

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Jauregui, P., Urbiola, I. & Estevez, A. Metacognition in Pathological Gambling and Its Relationship with Anxious and Depressive Symptomatology. J Gambl Stud 32, 675–688 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-015-9552-z

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