Gambling on Smartphones: A Study of a Potentially Addictive Behaviour in a Naturalistic Setting

James, Richard J.E.; O’Malley, Claire; Tunney, Richard J.

Abstract

Smartphone users engage extensively with their devices, on an intermittent basis for short periods of time. These patterns of behaviour have the potential to make mobile gambling especially perseverative. This paper reports the first empirical study of mobile gambling in which a simulated gambling app was used to measure gambling behaviour in phases of acquisition and extinction. We found that participants showed considerable perseverance in the face of continued losses that were linearly related to their prior engagement with the app. Latencies between gambles were associated with the magnitude of reinforcement; more positive outcomes were associated with longer breaks between play and a greater propensity to end a gambling session. Greater latencies were associated with measurements of problem gambling, and perseverance with gambling-related cognitions and sensation-seeking behaviour.

Citation

James, R., O’Malley, C., & Tunney, R. (2019). Gambling on Smartphones: A Study of a Potentially Addictive Behaviour in a Naturalistic Setting. European Addiction Research, 25(1), 30-40. https://doi.org/10.1159/000495663

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 20, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 10, 2019
• Publication Date: Jan 10, 2019
• Deposit Date: Feb 6, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 6, 2019
• Journal: European Addiction Research
• Print ISSN: 1022-6877
• Electronic ISSN: 1421-9891
• Publisher: Karger Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 30-40
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000495663
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1308484