PSYCHOLOGICAL PREDICTORS OF PROBLEM GAMBLING BEHAVIORS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY KUNTAY ARCAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY JUNE 2012 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz (METU, PSY) Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı (METU, PSY) Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Durak Batıgün (AU, PSY) Prof. Dr. Elif Barışkın Kabakçı (HU, PSYCH) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Bozo (METU, PSY) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Kuntay Arcan Signature: iii ABSTRACT PSYCHOLOGICAL PREDICTORS of PROBLEM GAMBLING BEHAVIORS Arcan, Kuntay Ph.D., Department of Psychology Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı June 2012, 277 Pages Gambling becomes a source of difficulties of varying severity for some individuals whereas it is a positive experience for most of other people. Although gambling continues to be an entertaining activity for the majority of gambling individuals, prevalence rates suggest that pathological gambling is not low compared to other types of diagnosis. Most of the data with respect to gambling is from Western gambling literature, whereas research investigating the associated features of problem and pathological gamblers are very limited in the Turkish sample. The present study aimed to adapt two gambling-related instruments into Turkish and subsequently to examine the contributory roles of gambling participation, personality, affect, cognition, and motives of Turkish gamblers on gambling severity and gambling-related harm. The present study sample consisted of 357 males who were gambling in the sports and horse-races betting terminals. The findings pointed iv out it is important to conduct gambling research with Turkish samples considering the gambling severity and harm scores of the participants. The Turkish versions of Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale and Gambling Motives Scale showed promising psychometric properties with respect to their reliability and validity analyses. Besides, relatively higher negative affect, neuroticism, gambling-related cognitions, avoidance motive, and gambling participation were found to be associates of probable pathological gambling among Turkish regular gambling individuals. Moreover, the relationships of gambling cognitions / motives and gambling severity were mediated by the gambling participation. The main findings and related findings of the present study together with their implications are reported and discussed within the relevant gambling literature. Keywords: Pathological Gambling, Cognition, Motive, Personality, Gambling Participation v ÖZ SORUNLU KUMAR OYNAMA DAVRANIŞLARININ PSİKOLOJİK YORDAYICILARI Arcan, Kuntay Doktora, Psikoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı Haziran 2012, 277 Sayfa Kumar oynama, bazıları için değişen şiddette sorunlara neden olurken, büyük çoğunluk için olumlu bir deneyimdir. Her ne kadar kumar oynama büyük çoğunluk için eğlenceli bir deneyim olmaya devam etse de yapılan prevalans çalışmaları patolojik kumar oynamanın diğer psikopatolojik tanılar kadar yaygın olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Kumar ile ilişkili verilerin çoğu Batıda yürütülmüş çalışmalardan gelirken, Türkiye örneklemimde sorunlu ya da patolojik düzeyde kumar oynayanların özelliklerini belirlemeye yönelik olarak yapılmış araştırmaların sayısı son derece sınırlıdır. Bu çalışmada kumar oynama ile ilişkili iki ölçeğin Türkçeye uyarlamasının yapılması hedeflenmiş, kumar oynama şiddeti ve kumardan kaynaklanan olumsuzluklar bağlamında Türkiye’de kumar oynayan kişilerin kumar katılımı, kişilik, duygu-durum, kognisyon ve motivasyonlarının incelenmesi vi hedeflenmiştir. Bu amaçlar doğrultusunda, at yarışı ve spor müsabakaları üzerine bahis oynatılan bayilerde kumar oynayan 357 erkek katılımcı çalışmanın örneklem grubunu oluşturmuştur. Çalışmanın bulguları, katılımcıların aldıkları kumar şiddeti ve kumardan kaynaklanan zarar puanları göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, Türk örnekleminde kumar ile ilişkili araştırmaların yapılmasının gereğini ortaya koymuştur. Kumar ile İlişkili Düşünceler Ölçeği ve Kumar Motivasyonları Ölçeği’nin Türkçe versiyonları, güvenilirlik ve geçerlilik analizleri sonuçları göz önünde bulundurulduğunda tatmin edici psikometrik özellikler göstermiştir. Ayrıca, görece yüksek olumsuz duygu-durum, nörotik kişilik özellikleri, kumar ile ilişkili düşünceler, kaçınma motivasyonu ve kumar katılımı düzenli kumar oynayan Türk örneklem grubunda patolojik düzeyde kumar oynama ile ilişkili bulunmuştur. Kumar katılımı ise kumar ile ilişkili düşünceler ve kumar oynama motivasyonları ile kumar oynama şiddeti arasındaki ilişkiyi yordamıştır. Bu ve ilişkili diğer bulgular uygun kumar oynama literatürü bağlamında sunulmuş ve tartışılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Patolojik Kumar Oynama, Biliş, Motivasyon, Kişilik, Kumar Katılımı vii To My Wife & Our Son viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The time I’ve been in METU for my graduate education was unforgettable for several reasons. I’d been married for just two months when I’d started PhD education in METU. My lovely son was born just several hours after a supervision meeting that was a requirement of the program. My graduate education was in Ankara and my family and I were living in Istanbul. This meant countless travels between Istanbul and Ankara. Putting aside the fatigue of those bus travels, longing and anxiety for my wife and son; those years meant much more than a degree for me. What I’ve learnt up to day during my graduate education is only meaningful and valuable with the people who accompanied me throughout my journey. Those people deserve my sincere gratitude. To start with, my advisor Professor A. Nuray Karancı became always a special person for me. I would like to express my thankfulness to her. I feel myself really lucky to know her. She was creative, enthusiastic, amusing, and well- disciplined in her lectures and supervision throughout my thesis. She provided freedom to me during the present research with a supportive and talented manner. Her trust in me made me feel adequate and competent throughout the thesis. Her contribution to me is not limited in my academic knowledge; I believe that she became one of the most important people to contribute to my personal growth. I also would like to thank to Professor Tülin Gençöz both for her contributions as a dissertation committee member and a lecturer of mine. I will ix always remember her with the words ‘endless support’. She always had an effective solution even for seemingly insoluble problems. I believe her sincere involvement in interpersonal relationships will serve to show the hints of the solutions of the problems to her in the future. I also would like to thank to Professor Ayşegül Durak Batıgün. She had accepted to be one of the members of the dissertation committee without knowing about me. She both read the drafts of the thesis and listened to me very carefully and contributed with her critical suggestions to the present thesis always in a kind and understanding manner. Her suggestions and comments made some important points more salient. I am also very grateful to my dissertation examining committee members Professor Elif Kabakçı and Associate Professor Özlem Bozo for their contributions. They accepted to join the committee without any hesitation and supported the present work with their valuable feedbacks. I also would like to propose my gratitude to Professor Hürol Fışıloğlu and Professor Faruk Gençöz in short. What I’d learnt from them was more and above the content of the lectures I’d took from them. I learnt the meaning and more importantly the positive functionality of the ‘rules’ from Professor Hürol Fışıloğlu. I would like to thank to him for his honest and straightforward feedbacks. I also learnt the courage to ‘ask question’ and comprehend what the answer may imply in depth from Professor Faruk Gençöz. I would like to thank him for his contributions that raised my insight. x I also would like to thank to Prof. Arşaluys Kayır and Psychiatrist Duygu Erdoğdu for their contribution in my clinical practice during my internship. I also owe thanks to Barış Özdemir, Hande Serdar, Ilgın Gökler Danışman, Sevdeğer Çeçen Besimoğu, and Yusuf Çotuksöken (in alphabetical order) for their support in the translation and back-translation of the adapted scales of the present study. My last and many thanks go to the students who gathered the data of the present study (in alphabetical order): Alev Yenidünya, Aysun Hızlı, Buse Öznalçın, Çağla Begüm Yüce, Duygu Uğur, Ecem Üretmen, Elif Sağlam, Emel Özcan, Halil Utku Altın, Hilal Tamkoç, İsmail Aykut Öztürk, Kübra Hacıoğlu, Özlem İflazoğlu, Özlem Yeter, Sevil Melis Ergezen, and Yeliz Bayraktar. The data of the present study could not be gathered without their efforts. xi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM