Small Grants 2015-16

We attained the objectives outlined in the grant proposal. We completed data collection for Study 1: The Effect of Labels on Public Stigma towards Gambling Disorder within the first 6 months of the award, which included the key activities of obtaining research ethics approval, preparing the online questionnaire set, preparing the additional study materials, recruiting and training research assistants, establishing the data management system, preparing recruitment materials, and recruiting participants. We met our recruitment targets and collected data from 402 (final N = 395) community participants randomized to nine label conditions. We conducted data analyses for the primary study hypotheses, and presented the results of the study at the 2016 AGRI annual conference.

We completed data collection for Study 2: Community Attitudes towards Gambling and Gambling Disorder in July 2017. Key activities included obtaining research ethics approval, preparing the online questionnaire sets, preparing the qualitative interview, preparing the additional study materials, recruiting and training research assistants, establishing the data management system, preparing recruitment materials, and recruiting participants. Study 2 included both quantitative and qualitative components. We met our recruitment target for the quantitative component and collected data from 320 community participants. We conducted data analyses for the primary study hypotheses, and presented the quantitative results at the 2017 AGRI annual conference. We collected data from 8 community adults from a variety of cultural backgrounds for the qualitative component. We used thematic analysis to derive categories of themes that appeared to be common across participants’ responses, and presented the qualitative results at the 2017 AGRI annual conference.

Our results from Study 1 confirmed those of our pilot study with a university study sample. The two most significant findings were that gambling disorder was highly stigmatized relative to other health and mental health conditions across a range of outcome variables, and that the label used to describe gambling disorder largely did not have an effect on the extent to which it was stigmatized. These findings will provide important information to the gambling research community regarding stigma and labels related to gambling disorder. In particular, these findings suggest that researchers and clinicians in the area of gambling need not be concerned with the stigma-related implications of the switch in DSM terminology from “pathological gambling” to “gambling disorder”. These data also highlight the importance of gaining a better understanding of why gambling disorder is highly stigmatized and how this stigma may be reduced. We are currently preparing a manuscript based on Study 1 to submit to a peer-reviewed gambling research journal.

Our results from Study 2 provide important information about the role of ethnicity and culture in stigmatizing attitudes toward gambling disorder. We found that both demographics and culture play a role in stigma toward gambling disorder. Age, but not ethnicity or gender, predicted stigma, such that stigmatizing attitudes increased with age. With regard to culture, the influence of heritage culture and a sense of self that emphasizes community relationships appear to influence stigmatizing beliefs toward gambling disorder. Our findings will be of interest to researchers in the area of stigma and gambling, as previous studies have yielded mixed findings with regard to the role of demographic variables, including ethnicity, in stigmatizing attitudes. We found that culture rather than ethnicity is predictive of attitudes, which highlights that ethnicity cannot be used as a proxy for culture, and these factors must be examined separately. The qualitative component of Study 2 revealed themes of cultural beliefs and attitudes about gambling problems that may underlie stigma, including: varying social acceptance of gambling; economic class association with gambling problems; moral attribution of gambling problems; self-deception in order to avoid shame toward self; and help-seeking as a characterological weakness. The qualitative investigation yielded more in-depth knowledge about cross-cultural gambling disorder stigma, which may be used to generate theories for new quantitative research, including why stigma exists and how it might be reduced as it specifically relates to different cultures. We intend to prepare manuscripts based on the quantitative and qualitative components of Study 2 to submit to a peer-reviewed journal within the next 6 months.

Prentice, J.L, Quigley, L, Hodgins, D., & Dobson, K.S. (2017, June). Public Stigma Related to Problem Gambling in a Canadian Community Sample: An Examination of Individual Difference Factors. Poster presentation presented at the 9th International Congress of Cognitive Psychotherapy conference in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Prentice, J., Quigley, L., Hodgins, D. C. & Dobson, K. S. (2017, April). Stigma and disordered gambling: An examination of individual difference factors. Poster session presented at the 16th Annual Alberta Conference on Gambling Research, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Prentice, J., Quigley, L., Hodgins, D. C. & Dobson, K. S. (2017, April). Public stigma of gambling disorder: A qualitative analysis of community attitudes and the role of culture. Poster session presented at the 16th Annual Alberta Conference on Gambling Research, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Prentice, J., Quigley, L., Hodgins, D. C. & Dobson, K. S. (2016, June). The effect of labels on public stigma towards gambling disorder: Replication in a community sample. Poster session presented at the 77th Annual Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) conference, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Hing, N., Prentice, J., & Quigley, L. (2016, April). Combatting stigma. Concurrent conversation & networking session presented at the 15th Annual Alberta Conference on Gambling Research, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Quigley, L.*, Prentice, J.*, Hodgins, D. C. & Dobson, K. S. (2016, April). The effect of labels on public stigma towards gambling disorder: Replication in a community sample. Poster session presented at the 15th Annual Alberta Conference on Gambling Research, Banff, Alberta, Canada. *Co-Presenters

We reached and surpassed our target sample size for this project, reaching a total sample of N = 83. Recruitment took place in the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. The study protocol was executed as described, without any issues, as described in the initial proposal. We will be able to address the objectives and hypotheses laid out in the project proposal.

Given that this study is one of the first to examine the potential links between problem gambling and schizophrenia, it will add to a new literature examining the prevalence rates and clinical correlates of this dual diagnosis, as well as potential treatment programs for this unique population. This study is the first to examine a cognitive training program in individuals with schizophrenia and a range of gambling difficulties. The results of this research will potentially lead to new treatment options for individuals with schizophrenia and problem gambling behaviours. Data analysis is still underway, so the exact conclusions cannot yet be spoken to, though they will be presented at the AGRI 2018 conference and written up in a manuscript for publication this year.

Three undergraduate research assistants helped with project and, as a result, they have learned about the research process, including data collection, data analysis, and study design. This project is also a part of my doctoral dissertation and, thus, is playing a large role in the development of my academic career. This project has led to a collaboration between myself, my doctoral supervisor, and members of the Addictions Laboratory at the University of Calgary, as together we will examine the data for this project and write it up for publication. This project also initiated a collaboration with members of the Addictions and Gambling Labs to further examine the prevalence rates of schizophrenia in a population of disordered gamblers using a clinic sample. To date, three manuscripts have been published on this topic under this collaboration.

Collaborative elements of the project have largely been within the University of Calgary. We have also collaborated with mental health clinics throughout the city of Calgary to aid with recruitment and provide treatment opportunities to clinic samples. We have also collaborated with the Schizophrenia Society branches in Calgary and Edmonton. Once data analysis has been completed, the results will be presented at inter-disciplinary conferences, which may lead to more potential for collaboration across institutions and disciplines. As described above, this project has already led to further collaboration with members of the Addictions and Gambling Labs to publish the results of the current study as well as further studies on psychosis and problem gambling.

The project resulting from this grant had two stated objectives:

Theoretical: To investigate how a simple risk vs reward tradeoff is affected by theme (e.g. the “story” or context surrounding game play) and medium (e.g. board game vs. video game).

Methodological: To examine the feasibility of using custom built board games and custom designed video-game levels as a low-cost and flexible test bed for risky decisions.

With respect to video games, we accomplished both major objectives.  That is, we designed and implemented a risky-decision in a video game context and examined the effect of theme.  This work was presented at numerous local conferences including the AGRI annual conference in 2017. With respect to board games, we accomplished the methodological objective of creating board games that implement the identical risky decision, but ran out of resources to collect the data necessary accomplish the theoretical objective of testing whether behavior changes across themes in these games.

We have succeeded in creating a low cost (<$500) video game tool and a lower cost (<$100) board game tool for conducting risky decision experiments that are easily deployable (all designed video game levels are available online, all board game materials are available to share with printing instructions) and both tasks are very engaging (participants report enjoying playing the video game levels). In addition to the video game levels and two board games we had previously, artwork and printing guides for four separate board games are now available to use for studies on risky decision making.

Chapman, C. S., Davis, C. M., Bertrand, J. K., Lavoie, E. B., Sawalha, J., & Wispinski, N. J. (2017, April). Feasibility of using custom built board games and video-game level editors to measure the impact of theme and medium on risky decision making. Poster presented at the Alberta Gambling Research Institute Conference (AGRI), Banff, AB, Canada.

Davis, C. M., & Chapman, C. S. (2016, August). The Effect of Theme on Risky Decision-Making in the Video Game Super Mario Maker. Poster presented at the Faculty of Science Undergraduate Summer Research Poster Session, Edmonton, AB, Canada.