IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v14y2019i5d10.1007_s11482-018-9648-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Low-Risk, Moderate-Risk, and Recreational Gambling Among Older Adults: Self-Complexity as a Buffer for Quality of Life

Author

Listed:
  • Margo Hilbrecht

    (Gambling Research Exchange Ontario
    University of Waterloo)

  • Steven E. Mock

    (University of Waterloo)

Abstract

Gambling is a popular activity among older adults that has potential for growth as the population ages. Benefits have been identified for recreational gamblers (those experiencing no gambling-related problems), but there are many social, financial, and health harms affecting quality of life related to gambling across the spectrum of risk levels. Because of their greater numbers, low and moderate risk (LMR) older adult gamblers are responsible for higher levels of population harm. Therefore, this study examines outcomes experienced by older adults who participate in gambling at recreational and LMR levels to better understand protective factors that contribute to quality of life. Guided by activity theory and a modified self-complexity model, we explore how leisure complexity and employment buffer the relationship between gambler type and factors associated with well-being, namely social support (both perceived and received) and stress. A sub-sample of 3232 adults, age 55 years and older, who gambled in the past year was drawn from the 2013–2014 Canadian Community Health Survey. Data were analyzed using linear regression with moderation, focusing on the interactions of gambling risk level with leisure complexity and employment. Recreational gamblers reported greater role complexity and more diverse leisure lifestyles, both of which were associated with greater social support and reduced stress. Life stress was higher among older adults who worked for pay. Even so, having a job appeared to temper stress levels among LMR gamblers, suggesting the importance of maintaining a diversity of social roles and leisure activities, where possible, to enhance quality of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Margo Hilbrecht & Steven E. Mock, 2019. "Low-Risk, Moderate-Risk, and Recreational Gambling Among Older Adults: Self-Complexity as a Buffer for Quality of Life," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1205-1227, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:14:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1007_s11482-018-9648-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-018-9648-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-018-9648-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-018-9648-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krueger, Alan B. & Schkade, David A., 2008. "The reliability of subjective well-being measures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(8-9), pages 1833-1845, August.
    2. Robert J. Williams & Rachel A. Volberg, 2014. "The classification accuracy of four problem gambling assessment instruments in population research," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 15-28, August.
    3. Jahoda,Marie, 1982. "Employment and Unemployment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521285865.
    4. Samson Tse & Song-Iee Hong & Chong-Wen Wang & Renee M. Cunningham-Williams, 2012. "Gambling Behavior and Problems Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(5), pages 639-652.
    5. Tiia Kekäläinen & Terhi-Anna Wilska & Katja Kokko, 2017. "Leisure Consumption and well-Being among Older Adults: Does Age or Life Situation Matter?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(3), pages 671-691, September.
    6. Rochelle R. Zaranek & Elizabeth E. Chapleski, 2005. "Casino Gambling Among Urban Elders: Just Another Social Activity?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(2), pages 74-81.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hai Luo & Megan Ferguson, 2017. "Gambling among culturally diverse older adults: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative data," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 290-316, May.
    2. Ronnie Schöb, 2013. "Unemployment and Identity," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(1), pages 149-180, March.
    3. Akay, Alpaslan & Karabulut, Gökhan & Yilmaz, Levent, 2021. "Life Satisfaction, Pro-Activity, and Employment," IZA Discussion Papers 14117, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Choung, Youngjoo & Pak, Tae-Young & Chatterjee, Swarn, 2021. "Consumption and Life Satisfaction: The Korean Evidence," MPRA Paper 115765, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Daiga KamerÄ de & Matthew R Bennett, 2018. "Rewarding Work: Cross-National Differences in Benefits, Volunteering During Unemployment, Well-Being and Mental Health," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(1), pages 38-56, February.
    6. Sonia Nawrocka & Hans De Witte & Margherita Pasini & Margherita Brondino, 2023. "A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions of Job Insecurity?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Haobin Fan & Xuanyi Nie, 2020. "Impacts of Layoffs and Government Assistance on Mental Health during COVID-19: An Evidence-Based Study of the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-23, September.
    8. Blanco, M. & Dalton, P.S. & Vargas, J.F., 2013. "Does the Unemployement Benefit Institution Affect the Productivity of Workers? Evidence from a Field Experiment," Other publications TiSEM ba37e033-06ab-4fc3-b56e-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    10. Fabian T C Schmidt & Clemens M Lechner & Daniel Danner, 2020. "New wine in an old bottle? A facet-level perspective on the added value of Grit over BFI–2 Conscientiousness," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-25, February.
    11. van Hoorn, André, 2018. "Is the happiness approach to measuring preferences valid?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 53-65.
    12. Lídia Farré & Francesco Fasani & Hannes Mueller, 2018. "Feeling useless: the effect of unemployment on mental health in the Great Recession," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-34, December.
    13. Nils Lerch, 2018. "The Causal Analysis of the Development of the Unemployment Effect on Life Satisfaction," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 991, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    14. Carter, Steven & McBride, Michael, 2013. "Experienced utility versus decision utility: Putting the ‘S’ in satisfaction," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 13-23.
    15. Israel Escudero-Castillo & Fco. Javier Mato-Díaz & Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez, 2021. "Furloughs, Teleworking and Other Work Situations during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Mental Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-16, March.
    16. Concetta Russo & Marco Terraneo, 2020. "Mental Well-being Among Workers: A Cross-national Analysis of Job Insecurity Impact on the Workforce," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 421-442, November.
    17. Martin Binder, 2016. "Revisiting Cheerful Jane and Miserable John: the impact of income, good health, social contacts and education declines with increasing subjective well-being," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 544-553, May.
    18. Trine Filges & Anu Siren & Torben Fridberg & Bjørn C. V. Nielsen, 2020. "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    19. Heywood, John S. & Siebert, W. Stanley & Wei, Xiangdong, 2009. "Job Satisfaction and the Labor Market Institutions in Urban China," IZA Discussion Papers 4254, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Robert P. Inman, 2008. "Federalism's Values and the Value of Federalism," NBER Working Papers 13735, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:14:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1007_s11482-018-9648-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.