Emotional Styles and Behavioral Addictions to Sports Betting among University Students in Douala, Cameroon

Behavioral addictions related to sports betting are a global public health problem, with prevalence rates ranging from 0.1 to 5.8%. In Africa, and more specifically in Cameroon, this issue remains under-researched. The objective of this study was to examine the emotional styles associated with the severity of pathological gambling among sports bettors. We conducted a quantitative cross-sectional study with 292 participants, mainly psychology students from the University of Douala, selected using convenience sampling. Data analysis was performed using Spearman's correlation test with SPSS software, setting a significance threshold of p < 0.001. The results show that emotional styles of resilience (p = 0.000), perspective (p = 0.000), and social intuition (p = 0.041) are significantly associated with pathological gambling. In contrast, styles of self-awareness, context sensitivity, and attention did not show significant correlations. The study also revealed that certain sociodemographic variables, such as age and marital status, modify the intensity of these associations. These results suggest that resilience, perspective, and social intuition play a crucial role in the development of pathological gambling and could be targets for interventions aimed at preventing excessive sports betting behavior.