2021/2022

This project (AGRI Grant #92) is for the same research conducted in AGRI Grant #89.

In the first year, we completed our first objective of examining if these initial findings extend to different types of anxious experiences, though we found that the effects were only partially in support of our predictions. This last year, due to the prior COVID related delays and restrictions, we adapted our second objective of manipulating motivation using EEG to an online version. The first study was pre-registered, administered, analyzed, and my student Paige Faulkner is currently leading the publication process. We also conducted a second online study that combined the same manipulation of motivation with a poignant, established anxiety experience (N = ~600) to examine the potential for ameliorating the ironic risk-taking effect. This study is currently being analyzed and prepared for publication. And despite the delays, we were also able to conduct one high-powered follow-up EEG study (N = 180) manipulating an interpersonal anxiety experience and examining social risk-taking in the form of trusting anonymous strangers with a real monetary investment. This study is currently being preprocessed and analyzed by all of my students. We expect several publications from this study. Finally, in our international collaboration with researchers at the University of Rostock (Germany), Department of Economics, we conducted three large studies examining anxious vs. motivating experiences and social risk-taking and individual differences in risk-preference. Essentially, we replicated and extended our published findings (Leota et al., 2023, PSPB) and expect one (possibly two) more relevant publication(s), which is currently in prep.

Our current research has both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate an ironic risk-taking effect, i.e., a causal link between different types of anxiety and increased risk-taking. Additionally, evidence that such ironic risk-taking is specific to certain personalities—i.e., people high in trait approach motivation—helps clarify the underlying psychological mechanisms (i.e., the ‘why’ this effect occurs). Practically, this research may also directly impact the treatment of disordered gambling. Identifying personality markers of vulnerable gamblers prone to engaging in risk-taking can inform person-specific interventions that allow individuals to manage anxiety more effectively, defuse defensive reactions, and promote wellbeing.

Kleinert, T., Nash, K., Leota, J., Koenig, T., Heinrichs, M., & Schiller, B. (2023). A self-controlled mind is reflected by stable mental processing. Psychological Science, 33(12). https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221110136

Faulkner, P. & Nash, K. (2023). Diminished error-related negativity in people low in trait self-control following anxiety. Social and Affective Neuroscience Annual Meeting. Santa Barbara, CA.

Nash, K. & Leota, J. (2022). Reactive Risk-taking: Anxiety Regulation via Approach Motivation Impairs Self-Control and Increases Risky Decisions. In K. Nash (Chair) Integrative Theory and Research in Self-Regulation at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, (February 16-19, 2022). San Francisco, CA.

Most of the progress made during the 2023-2024 reporting period came in the form of manuscript revisions and journal submissions. A recent version of the working paper can be accessed here: “More than Chance: The Local Labor Market Effects of Tribal Gaming”.

The release of my working paper is timely, given that 2023 was the 35-year anniversary of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the legislation that paved the way for tribal gaming in the United States. With the increasing popularity of sports betting and online gaming, it is more important than ever to understand the economic impact of brick-and-mortar casinos for the local economies of Native communities. My research serves as one of the most comprehensive analyses of the economic effects of tribal gaming, studying the effects on different markets, over different time horizons, and for different subgroups. I show that tribal gaming has been responsible for sustained improvements in employment and wages on American Indian reservations and that American Indians benefit the most. 

As a current research fellow at the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD), I will be able to take advantage of a new gaming dataset compiled by the CICD based on a combination of public and proprietary data. I will also be able to link the gaming dataset to other proprietary datasets, such as the National Establishment Time Series data (NETS), to study the relationship
between tribal gaming and local firm growth. The Center for Indian Country Development also plans to write a short policy piece about the uneven success of tribal gaming. In short, there are many previously unaddressed questions about tribal gaming that I plan to explore as part of an ongoing research agenda. Each of those questions has implications for policy.

Blog post: “Does Tribal Gaming Generate Net Benefits?”

CICD working paper: “More than Chance: the Local Labor Market Effects of Tribal Gaming”

I presented my research as part of the panel, “The Labor Crisis: Mastering Recruitment and Retention,” at the Indian Gaming Association’s Convention in San Diego (2023, March): This conference is a combined conference for both academics and practitioners.

Our project primarily aims to supplement an online self-help workbook for gambling problems with a single motivational interview (MI) in order to enhance treatment engagement and outcomes. To that end, we are conducting a two-arm randomized controlled trial (workbook only vs. workbook plus MI) with follow-ups at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Over the past year, all of the 12-month follow-ups were completed, and 24-month follow-ups will be completed on schedule by June 2024. A manuscript was published in January 2024 detailing the 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up results. These results were presented at two international conferences: ICBA in Incheon, South Korea (August 2023) and AGRI in Banff (April 2024). They will also be presented at the ISRII conference in Limerick, Ireland (June 2024). Similar knowledge translation activities (i.e., manuscript, conference presentations) will be used to disseminate 24-month results in the coming months. 

A secondary aim of this project is to analyze the specific components of MI that facilitate treatment engagement and success. To that end, we have hired a research assistant to train 14 undergraduate volunteers in the qualitative coding of MI session content. This research assistant is also responsible for day-to-day management of trial data and participant compensation. Analysis began in January 2024, approximately 85 of the 89 MI sessions have been coded thus far. A macro was developed by the research assistant to tally the coded interviews and transport to SPSS for analysis. At least two manuscripts will result from these analyses. Preliminary results were presented in two posters by undergraduate volunteers and research assistants at the AGRI 2024 conference.

Although data collection is still underway, the initial results disseminated thus far do bear influence on priority areas, particularly gambling treatment. From a theoretical perspective, our project bolsters support for efficient online delivery of gambling self-help. Such interventions are remarkably accessible, easy to use, cost-effective, and in high demand from treatment providers and users alike; thus, establishing a strong empirical base of support is critical for their scaled deployment. Our study is especially beneficial in its inclusion of 24-month follow-ups, which is rare in the current gambling treatment literature yet important to evaluate long-term maintenance of self-help treatment gains. Moreover, our collection of more granular user engagement data and user feedback provides detail on how gamblers use self-help resources and how such resources can be tailored to individual needs and stakeholder priorities. This information is being used in our lab to develop a more personalized self-help intervention delivered via mobile app. It is expected that impacts will further materialize in the coming months when longer-term data are analyzed and disseminated. 

Our research is also expected to inform on the effective ingredients, such as change talk, of motivational interviewing which promote treatment engagement and successful outcomes. Knowledge of these critical ingredients will help streamline delivery of MI and maximize its potential as an adjunct, which can improve the efficiency with which MI is delivered both within and beyond the context of online self-help. Disseminating this research at an international level will ideally spur more research worldwide into gambling interventions, and perhaps influence policy changes to make such interventions more accessible.

Brazeau, B. W., Cunningham, J. A., & Hodgins, D. C. (2024). Evaluating the impact of motivational interviewing on engagement and outcomes in a web-based self-help intervention for gambling disorder: A randomised controlled trial. Internet Interventions, 35, 100707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2023.100707 [open access]

Brazeau BW, Cunningham JA, & Hodgins DC (2024, June). Evaluating the impact of motivational
interviewing on engagement and outcomes in a web-based self-help intervention for gambling disorder: A randomised controlled trial. Oral presentation accepted to International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII) 12th Annual Meeting, Limerick, Ireland. 

Tourani M, Brazeau BW, Henkel L, & Hodgins DC (2024, April). Exploring ambivalence: Deconstructing its meaning in motivational interviewing. Poster presented at Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) 23rd Annual Conference, Banff AB. 

Ahmad J, Angotti B, Brazeau BW, Henkel L, Stremick H, & Hodgins DC (2024, April). Beyond words: A pilot study exploring client change talk within motivational interviews conducted during the Gambling Online Self-Help (GOSH) study. Poster presented at Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) 23rd Annual Conference, Banff AB. 

Brazeau BW, Cunningham JA, Singh V, & Hodgins DC (2024, April). The impact of motivational interviewing paired with a web-based self-help intervention for gambling problems. Oral presentation delivered at Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) 23rd Annual Conference, Banff AB. 

Brazeau BW, Hodgins DC, & Henkel L (2023, August). Can a brief motivational contact improve engagement with an online self-directed program to reduce gambling problems? Oral presentation delivered at 8th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions (ICBA), Incheon, South Korea. https://icba.elte.hu/2023/docs/icba2023_abstract_book.pdf 

The study ‘Gambling in Canada: Return to Normal or the Establishment of a New Normal?’ was designed to contribute to the longitudinal evaluation of the impact of the social, health, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gambling and problem gambling in Canada. The data for this study was collected 1.5 and two years after the Canada-wide lockdown response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, by this study’s second data collection period, the landscape of land-based gambling availability was once again equivalent with pre-pandemic availability, as all pandemic related responses (i.e., closures, social distancing, etc.) had been repealed prior to the final data collection wave. The availability of legal online gambling in Canada on the other hand, had increased prior to the final data collection wave relative to pre-COVID and previous data collection waves as two provinces – Alberta and Saskatchewan – introduced legal online gambling opportunities in the months prior to this study’s final data collection period. With both waves of study data collected, this study data has now been cleaned and analyses to address both primary and some secondary study questions has been undertaken during this reporting period and some results have been disseminated.

This study contributes novel contributions for two identified priority areas of research: longitudinal follow up studies and online gambling studies. First, these waves of data are in and of themselves longitudinal data. But also, these waves offer the two additional aptly timed follow up evaluations of individuals who participated in the ANP online panel study, the ANP COVID panel, and the Gambling in Canada After the Pandemic (GCAP) studies. The examination of gambling engagement across time, accounting for the impact of COVID health, social and economic variables have been presented at the annual 2024 AGRI conference. In addition, the longitudinal examination of online gambling, accounting for changes in legal online gambling access in Canada, is the second research priority that this study addresses. This examination has been submitted for presentation at an international conference for this year. Furthermore, two manuscripts – one for each of the examinations – are in preparation and are expected to be submitted imminently. Two further manuscripts are planned for this data, the first detailing the longitudinal examination of fluctuations in gambling fallacies and the second the longitudinal follow-up examination of longer-term fluctuation in problem gambling risk for individuals who migrated to online gambling during the national lockdown. Additional uses for this data are being considered, and it is expected that the manuscripts detailed herein will not be the only manuscripts drafted from this study.

Shaw, C. A. (2024, April). Gambling and COVID: The lasting impacts of the pandemic on gambling in Canada. Presented at the Alberta Gambling Research Institute’s 23rd Annual Meeting, Banff, AB, Canada.

We conducted the development and validation of the Congruent Communication Scale (CCS) in three phases. In Phase 1, we obtained feedback from six expert reviewers and researchers familiar with Congruence Couple Therapy (CCT) on the 67 scale items. The items were rated for their clarity and correspondence to the conceptualization of communication types. In Phase 2, we conducted an Exploratory Factor Analyses (N = 496) that resulted in an 18-item scale that factorized into 6 communication postures corresponding to the initial conceptualized typology of: superior, inferior, fixing, enmeshed, avoidant, and congruent communication. In Phase 3, with a separate sample of individuals (N = 637), the factor structure of the CCS was cross-validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. 

The construct validity of the CCS was examined by correlating the CCS scores with other measures of communication, relationship satisfaction, and emotion regulation. Taken together, the CCS appears to be a brief and useful tool for practitioners and researchers seeking to assess the type of communication between dyads and the level of congruence in communication. Clinically, the CCS can be used to assess improvements in congruent communication as a result of interventions. Finally, we will conclude the project using structural equation modelling with longitudinal data (N=358) to map out the mechanism for gambling severity in relation to the interactions among congruent communication, emotion regulation, life stress, adverse childhood experience and couple adjustment. We expect that these findings will be a significant contribution in advancing our understanding of the key mechanisms that contribute to the
severity gambling disorder.

The operationalization and measurement of communication can promote the assessment and incorporation of interpersonal communication into gambling treatment and research. It will also allow the inclusion of communication in a range of inferential and experimental studies with a communication scale underpinned by theory and empirical validation. Findings from this study will clarify the role of communication as a mechanism in gambling and other addiction and mental health treatment. Better understanding and measurement of the different types of congruent/incongruent communication postures has important implications for emotion regulation, couple adjustment, parenting, couple/family well-being, intimate partner violence and stress reduction and association with adverse childhood experiences, factors that have been found to be important in gambling disorder and its prevention and treatment. The Congruent Communication Scale provides an empirical measure that will have profound implications in understanding the mechanisms underlying gambling disorder and the elements essential to its treatment.

Lee, B.K., & Isik, E. (2024). Development of a Congruent Communication Scale to Correlate with Emotion Regulation, Marital Adjustment and Gambling Severity. 9th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions (ICBA 2024), 8-10 July, 2024, Gibraltar.