2021/2022

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

We are currently following up on and replicating a study conducted last year that combined a 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 pilot tested and will be added to the initial study for publication. From our prior EEG research, My PhD student, Tamari Shalamberidze, published work on EEG markers in trait anxiety, a key step in our neural marker approach to our proposed work on anxiety and risk-taking. A second student, Paige Faulkner (MSc), presented her work on neural mechanisms in the link between risky sensation seeking and psychological well-being at the top international conference in social neuroscience (SANS). Notably, we experienced significant delays in our EEG lab that disrupted research capability. We have had construction near our lab for the last year that has made EEG research impossible, i.e., the proposed EEG study. To that end, I applied for and received two no-cost extensions as the construction has continued. EEG data collection will resume in September 2025. Finally, in our international collaboration with researchers at the University of Rostock (Germany), Department of Economics, from three large studies examining anxious vs. motivating experiences and social risk-taking and individual differences in risk-preference, we have one study published this year and expect two more relevant publications, one of which is under review (Scientific Reports) and the other 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.

Shalamberidze, T., Nash, K., & Caplan, J. B. (2025). Rhythmic activity in resting-state EEG predicts trait anxiety. Imaging Neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.), 3. https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.44

Schütze, T., Nash, K., Gehrke, B., & Wichardt, P. C. (2025). Influenced by others: Trusting behaviour and social influence. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 116, 102370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102370

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. (2024). Daring Brains: Do Diminished P300 Amplitudes Explain Sensation Seekers Positive Psychological Well-being? Poster presented at the annual Social and Affective Neuroscience Conference (SANS). Toronto, Canada. 

Prem, P., & Nash, K. (2024). Experimentally Induced Anxiety Reduces Behavioural Dishonesty in Low-Trait Anxious [Poster Presentation]. 22nd Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroeconomics, Cascais, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31526.54082 

Shalamberidze, T., Nash, K. Caplan J. B. (2024). Poster Presentation: Resting State Neural Oscillations Predict Trait Anxiety. Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) 2024 Annual Meeting, University of Alberta.

Shalamberidze, T., Nash, K. Caplan J. B. (2024). Poster Presentation: Resting State Neural Oscillations Predict Trait Anxiety. Cognitive Neuroscience Society 2024 Meeting, Toronto, ON, Canada.

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 2024-2025 reporting period came in the form of manuscript revisions and journal submissions. In 2024-2025, I have been working on revisions requested by the Journal of Human Resources, one of the top general-interest journals in economics.

The legislation that paved the way for tribal gaming in the United States, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, is a place-based policy designed to deliver economic benefits specifically to tribal members. To what extent has the IGRA has been successful in doing so? 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.

The IGRA is an economic policy that carries with it a set of political ramifications. The motivation to operate a casino has fueled legal efforts to gain federal recognition for tribes like the Mashpee Wampanoag. These efforts have been met with legal challenges and reversals of the decisions of earlier presidential administrations. But with the increasing popularity of sports betting and online gaming, ventures that are not land-based, it is more important than ever to understand the economic impact of brick-and-mortar casinos for the local economies of Native communities and to think through the implications of removing the “place” from place-based economic development initiatives.

Wheeler, L. (2022). Does Tribal Gaming Generate Net Benefits? Critical Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs142 

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 aimed 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 conducted a two-arm randomized controlled trial (workbook only vs. workbook plus MI) with follow-ups at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. In 2024, we published the 12-month outcomes and finished data collection for the 24-month outcomes. The 12-month results were presented at two international conferences: AGRI in Banff (April 2024) and ISRII in Limerick, Ireland (June 2024). More recently, the preliminary 24-month outcomes were presented at AGRI in Banff (April 2025). A few supplementary analyses comprised additional presentations. To summarize the results, we found that the workbook was effective in reducing gambling severity and expenditures and maintaining gains over 2 years. There was also a dose-response relationship between engagement and outcomes, which depended on how engagement was measured. However, the MI did not add any incremental benefit to the workbook. 

Further analyses of the MI sessions were also conducted, and preliminary results were presented in at AGRI 2024 and 2025, as well as the Mathison-Littman Research Day. One notable finding was that sex appeared to moderate the relationship between client change-related language during the MI session and gambling problem severity at 3 months. Specifically, better outcomes were associated with more change-related language for females and less change-related language for males. To further analyze MI sessions, an additional small grant was obtained from AGRI.

From a theoretical perspective, our project bolsters support for efficient online delivery of gambling self-help, which is aligned with the research priority of gambling treatment. 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 detailed user feedback (qualitative and quantitative) provides critical information about 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.

Our research is also expected to inform on the effective ingredients 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, B. W., Cunningham, J. A., & Hodgins, D. C. The Gambling Online Self-Help (GOSH) trial: Results after 24 months. Manuscript in preparation.

Tourani M, Brazeau BW, Henkel L, & Hodgins DC (2025, April). Beyond words: Does change talk matter in motivational interviewing? Poster presented at Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) 24th Annual Conference, Banff, Canada.

Brazeau BW, Cunningham JA, Henkel L, Stremick H, & Hodgins DC (2025, April). The Gambling Online Self-Help (GOSH) trial: 24-month results. Poster presented at Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) 24th Annual Conference, Banff, Canada.

Tourani M, Brazeau BW, Henkel L, & Hodgins DC (2025, March). Beyond words: Does change talk matter in motivational interviewing? Poster presented at 2025 Mathison-Littmann Research Day, Calgary, Canada.

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) 23^rd 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.

Development and Validation of the Congruent Communication Scale: We completed 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 crossvalidated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

The construct validity of the CCS was evaluated by examining correlations between CCS scores and other measures related to communication, relationship satisfaction, and emotion regulation. Overall, the CCS appears to be a concise and practical instrument for both practitioners and researchers interested in assessing communication styles within dyads and the degree of congruence in those interactions. Clinically, the CCS may be valuable for tracking changes in congruent communication following interventions.

Structural Equation Modelling of the Mechanisms leading to Problem Gambling Severity: We employed structural equation modeling with longitudinal data (N = 358) to investigate the mechanisms contributing to gambling severity. Specifically, we examined how congruent/incongruent communication, emotion regulation, life stress, adverse childhood experiences, and couple adjustment interact. The findings supported our hypothesis: incongruent communication emerged as the most significant path to problem gambling severity, couple adjustment and perceived life stress. In contrast, difficulties in emotion dysregulation did not significantly demonstrate a path to gambling severity, and adverse childhood experiences demonstrated only a marginally significant path. This analysis contributes to the advancement of a theory of gambling disorder and its treatment with its underlying constructs.

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.

The significant pathways to problem gambling severity from the structural equation model will present a fresh model for problem gambling that feature congruent/incongruent communication, a core construct not previously included in analysis and clinical interventions. This new central construct will be discussed in relation to factors previously found to be associated with pathological and problem gambling, namely emotion dysregulation, perceived life stress, adverse childhood experiences and couple adjustment.

Lee, B.K. (Symposium Chair, 2025). 12th Conference of the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA), Lyon, France, August 27-30, 2025.

Non-linear Dynamics: Complexity, Communication, and Change in Addiction Treatment – two papers on the symposium will be from Dr. Erkan Isik and myself:

• Lee, B.K. (2025). Systemic or Individual Therapy for Addictive Disorders: The Evidence Base and the Mechanisms of Change
• Isik, E. (2025). The Congruent Communication Scale: A New Instrument for Mapping Emotion Regulation, Couple Satisfaction, Mental Distress in Addictive Disorder

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.