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You will regret it in the morning

Problem gamblers struggle to cut their losses as they are unable to predict how much they will regret losing afterwards.

This is the finding of Dr Karin Tochkov from Texas A&M University. She presented her findings at The British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Dublin on Friday 4 April 2008.

To find the difference between problem gamblers and social gamblers this study focussed on how mood and the ability to anticipate regret affected their approach to betting.

Eighty-two gamblers (42 social and 40 addicts) were involved in the study. They were all asked to try to solve word puzzles but were all told that the puzzles were so easy children could do them. To create a negative mood some were given more difficult or unsolvable puzzles to create frustration and others were given easier ones.

The results revealed that a negative mood only affected the social gamblers anticipated regret; it didn’t affect the problem gamblers. As a result they were much worse at predicting how much regret they would feel and therefore less likely to stop.

Dr Tochkov said: "Previous research has identified mental distortions as a major risk factor in problem gambling because they prevent gamblers from realising the true nature of uncertainty. Basically when placing bets gamblers think not only about the odds of winning but also how they will feel if they lose. Therefore if they think they will feel bad they are more likely to stop.

"This research implies that excessive gambling can be caused by the inability to anticipate regret so we would recommend that this area is focussed via cognitive behavioural therapy for problem gamblers."

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