Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

James Whelan

Committee Member

Carmen Astorne

Committee Member

Rory Pfund

Abstract

Gambling literature often references financial harm, an objective experience following gambling-related financial losses. Financial harm alongside emotional distress has been implicated in help-seeking for problem gambling, indicating the importance of subjective reactions to financial harm and its perceived severity. It is unclear whether the gambling literature measures both objective and subjective experiences of financial harm. To explore the implications of financial harm on gambling help-seeking behaviors, this scoping review explored how the gambling literature measures financial harm among gambling help-seeking populations. In 84 articles, financial harm was defined through objective metrics such as debt and bankruptcy. Although financial harms were referenced as a reason for seeking help, extant gambling literature did not directly measure subjective experiences of financial harm. This highlights a need for future gambling research to measure subjective experiences of financial harm to understand its role in gambling help-seeking.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.”

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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