PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the association of multiple addiction risks with life satisfaction, depression, and suicidal ideation in Korean adults. METHODS: This study was descriptive correlational. Data were collected in 800 adults (405 males, 395 females) aged 20 to 69 years recruited using the proportional allocation in a city on April 2017. The structured questionnaire consisted of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Internet Addiction Proneness Scale for adults, the Problem Gambling Severity Index, the Drug Screening Inventory, the Korean version of the Satisfaction with the Life Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Scale for Suicidal Ideation. RESULTS: Adults with multiple addiction risks had a low level of life satisfaction (p=.003) and high levels of depression and suicidal ideation (p<.001) compared to other participants. Multiple addiction risks were associated with low life satisfaction (β=.12), high depression (β=.21), and suicidal ideation (β=.20). Significant factors of life satisfaction were low suicidal ideation, a simple functioning job, high level of education, and unemployment status. CONCLUSION: Multiple addiction risks are associated with life satisfaction, depression, and suicidal ideation. The comprehensive mental health assessment for multiple addictions should precede the development of preventive multidimensional interventions.
Adult ; Behavior, Addictive ; Depression ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Education ; Gambling ; Humans ; Internet ; Male ; Mental Health ; Personal Satisfaction ; Suicidal Ideation ; Unemployment

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to identify the types of gambling among adolescents and provide basic prevention information regarding adolescents' gambling problems. METHODS: Secondary data from representative national survey on 2015 Youth Gambling Problems of Korea Center on Gambling Problems were used. Using latent class analysis (LCA), 13 gambling types such as offline and online games of 14,011 adolescents were classified, and gambling experiences and characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: The subgroups of adolescent gambling were identified as four latent classes: a rare group (84.5% of the sample), a risk group (1.0%), an offline group (11.9%), and an expanded group (2.6%). The types and characteristics of gambling among the latent classes differed. In the risk group, adolescents participated in online illegal sports betting and internet casino, and gambling time, gambling expenses, and the number of gambling types were higher than other groups. CONCLUSION: Gambling frequently occur among adolescent, and the subtypes of gambling did not reveal homogeneous characteristics. In order to prevent adolescent gambling problems, it is a necessary to develop tailored prevention intervention in the nursing field, which is appropriate to the characteristics of adolescent gambling group and can help with early identification.
Adolescent* ; Gambling* ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Nursing ; Primary Prevention ; Secondary Prevention ; Sports

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model for predicting problem gambling in speculative game users based on Blaszczynski and Nower's pathways model of problem and pathological gambling. METHODS: The participants were 262 speculative game users recruited from seven speculative gambling places located in Seoul, Gangwon, and Gyeonggi, Korea. They completed a structured self-report questionnaire comprising measures of problem gambling, negative emotions, attentional impulsivity, motor impulsivity, non-planning impulsivity, gambler's fallacy, and gambling self-efficacy. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypothesized model and to examine the direct and indirect effects on problem gambling in speculative game users using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs. RESULTS: The hypothetical research model provided a reasonable fit to the data. Negative emotions, motor impulsivity, gambler's fallacy, and gambling self-efficacy had direct effects on problem gambling in speculative game users, while indirect effects were reported for negative emotions, motor impulsivity, and gambler's fallacy. These predictors explained 75.2% problem gambling in speculative game users. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that developing intervention programs to reduce negative emotions, motor impulsivity, and gambler's fallacy, and to increase gambling self-efficacy in speculative game users are needed to prevent their problem gambling.
Gambling* ; Gangwon-do ; Gyeonggi-do ; Impulsive Behavior ; Korea ; Models, Structural ; Seoul

INTRODUCTIONLiterature has shown that individuals with various psychiatric disorders experience a lower quality of life (QoL). However, few have examined QoL across disorders. The current study explored differences in QoL and symptom severity across 4 psychiatric diagnostic groups: anxiety disorders (including obsessive compulsive disorder [OCD]), depressive disorders, schizophrenia, and pathological gambling.

MATERIALS AND METHODSData analysed was from a previous study that examined the prevalence of hoarding symptoms among outpatients (n = 500) in a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Singapore. Measures utilised included the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction QuestionnaireShort Form (Q-LES-Q-SF). Sociodemographic information and details on type and number of comorbidities were also collected.

RESULTSThe depressive disorder group had the highest level of depressive and anxiety symptoms and the lowest QoL whereas; the schizophrenia group had the lowest level of depressive symptoms and the highest QoL. Age and employment status were the only sociodemographic correlates which were significantly associated with QoL. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, only the type of mental disorder was found to have a significant effect in explaining BAI, BDI-II and Q-LES-Q-SF.

CONCLUSIONFindings offer insight in terms of the burden associated with the various disorders.

Adult ; Anxiety Disorders ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Comorbidity ; Cost of Illness ; Demography ; Depressive Disorder ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Female ; Gambling ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Quality of Life ; Schizophrenia ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Socioeconomic Factors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the mediating effect of depression on the relationship between gambling severity and cognitive distortion in Koreans with a gambling disorder. METHODS: Secondary data from a comprehensive assessment of problematic gambling between 2015 and 2017 on Korea Center on Gambling Problems were used. The subjects in this study were 254 Koreans with that gambling disorder. Data were collected with self-report structured questionnaires which included individual characteristics, the Korean version of Problem Gambling Severity Index, the Center for the Epidemiologic Studies Depression, and the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA with the Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and a mediation analysis of the Baron and Kenny method with the SPSS 22.0 program. RESULTS: Significant correlations emerged among the three variables, gambling severity, depression, and cognitive distortion. Depression exerted a partial mediating effect (β=.20, p < .001) on the relationship between gambling severity and cognitive distortion (Sobel test: z=2.33, p=.012). CONCLUSION: Based on this study's findings, nursing intervention programs focused on managing gambling severity and decreasing depression are highly recommended to alleviate cognitive distortion in people with a gambling disorder.
Cognition ; Depression ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Gambling ; Korea ; Methods ; Negotiating ; Nursing ; Statistics as Topic

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to investigate relationship between the horse racing addiction and the health status indicators. METHODS: Surveys were conducted with visitors of the Korea Racing Association in Gyeonggi-do, from September 1 to September 24, 2017. We used the questionnaire, which contains questions to assess the horse racing addiction, mood depression, health-related quality of life, smoking amount, alcohol dependency, etc. Survey data were analyzed through t-test, chi-square test, logistic regression analysis, and multiple regression analysis by SPSS program (IBM Corp., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: The pathological gambling group was 47.5% (n=38) of the visitors, and they showed a different racecourse use behavior compared to the normal group. In addition, we found that the pathological gambling group had a significantly different health-related quality of life score and a depression score from the normal group, and that the addiction score and the depression score had a linear correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Among the racecourse visitors, the ratio of the pathological gambler was considerably high, and the pathological gambling group showed different health-related quality of life score and a depression score compared to the normal group; especially, the depression score has a significant correlation with horse racing addiction. Therefore, the horse racing association and the health authorities should recognize the seriousness of the horse racing addiction, make an effort to select high risk users, and prepare a program to prevent pathological gambling.
Continental Population Groups ; Depression ; Gambling ; Gyeonggi-do ; Health Status Indicators ; Horses ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Quality of Life ; Smoke ; Smoking

PURPOSE: A mediated model of Korean college students' problem gambling based on Blaszczynski and Nower's pathway model is developed and tested to explore mediating roles of self-control and irrational gambling beliefs in the association between emotionally vulnerable variables and problem gambling. METHODS: 273 student participants recruited from 4 universities in Seoul and Gyeonggi, Korea responded. Data were collected with a structured self-report questionnaire comprising measures of problem gambling, depression, anxiety, coping styles, irrational gambling belief, and self-control. RESULTS: The modified research model provides a reasonable fit to the data. Depression, anxiety, reflective coping, irrational beliefs, and self-control turned out to have direct effects on problem gambling, while indirect effects were reported in some suppressive and reactive styles. These predictors account for 38% of the college students' problem gambling. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that developing intervention programs for reducing depression, anxiety, irrational gambling beliefs, and increasing reflective coping and self-control are needed to prevent Korean college students' problem gambling.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Gambling ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Models, Structural ; Negotiating ; Self-Control ; Seoul

OBJECTIVE: In Korea, online board games, such as “flower cards,” are played using virtual money. In contrast, Internet-based gambling (ibGambling) concerns the use of real money to gamble online. We hypothesized that online board gamers using virtual money show less risky behaviors than do gamblers who use real money, and that, in regard to psychological aspects, online board gamers are less depressed and more introverted than online gamblers are. METHODS: For this study, 100 online board gamers, 100 ibGamblers, 100 offline gamblers (offGamblers), and 100 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited by an online research company. Gambling behavior and self-efficacy were assessed using the Korean Gambling Behavior Scale-high/low factors (KGBS-H/L) and the Gambling Abstinence Self-efficacy Scale (GASS). Additionally, introversion, depression, and mania tendency were assessed. RESULTS: Online board gamers had good intentions gaming, as evidenced by their higher KGBS-L scores than ibGamblers and offGamblers, and they showed less risky behaviors, as evidenced by their lower KGBS-H scores than offGamblers. Additionally, online board gamers were less introverted than ibGamblers and less depressed than offGamblers. CONCLUSION: Online board gaming could be a gateway to the world of gambling (ibGambling or OffGambling). However, the higher tendency of online board gamers to engage in good intentioned gaming could help prevent online board gaming from progressing to online or offline gambling.
Bipolar Disorder ; Depression ; Gambling ; Intention ; Introversion (Psychology) ; Korea

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale (RCB-K). METHODS: Participants (n=598) included patients recruited through an online panel survey. For the semantic adaptation step, the scale was translated into Korean and then back-translated to English by one psychologist, one public health professional, one psychiatrist who could speak both Korean and English, and one professional translator, without communication between those involved. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test whether the factor structure of the RCB-K was consistent with the English version. Convergent validity was assessed by correlating the RCB-K scores with those of other scales (i.e., O'Guinn & Faber's Compulsive Buying Scale, Problem Gambling Inventory). RESULTS: The factor structure of the RCB-K was consistent with the two-factor structure established for the original RCB. Cronbach's α was high (0.906), indicating that the reliabilities of the items in each subscale were satisfactory. The RCB-K score was significantly correlated with those for the O'Guinn & Faber's Compulsive Buying Scale (r=0.7) and the Problem Gambling Inventory (r=0.422). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that the RCB-K is an effective and valid scale for evaluating the severity of compulsive buying. The findings suggest that the RCB-K is a promising assessment tool for use in the treatment and study of online compulsive buying behavior.
Gambling ; Humans ; Psychiatry ; Psychology ; Psychometrics ; Public Health ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Semantics ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify levels of cognitive distortion, depression, and gambling severity and to identify the influences of cognitive distortion and depression on gambling severity in Koreans with a gambling disorder. METHODS: The participants in this study were 150 Koreans with a gambling disorder. Data were collected using self-report structured questionnaires which included individual characteristics, the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale, the Center for the Epidemiologic Studies Depression, and the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. RESULTS: Gambling severity had a significant correlation with gambling related cognitions scale-perceived inability to stop gambling (r=.29, p<.001) and depression (r=.34, p<.001). Among predictors, depression (β=.24, p=.035) and type of housing tenure (β=.26, p=.022) had statistically significant influence on gambling severity. The explanatory power of this regression model was 17.0% (F=3.72, p=.003). CONCLUSION: The findings from this study indicate that interventions to decrease depression are essential to decrease the gambling severity of Koreans with gambling disorder.
Cognition ; Depression* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Gambling* ; Housing