Session Description
Understanding how emotion regulation and gambling-related cognitive distortions relate to gambling problems has applicability for problem gambling prevention and treatment. The findings of recent research indicate that emotion regulation may serve as the foundation to the development of cognitive distortions, while also directly influencing problem gambling (Flack, 2021). Even further, a systematic review of 22 years of studies on problem gambling found that 96 percent showed significant association between emotional regulation, coping strategies, and problem gambling severity (Neophytou, 2023). Other research has shown that adolescents who are experiencing problem gambling can also experience emotional dysregulation and cognitive distortions (Ciccarelli, 2021).
Media messages have been found to foster cognitive distortions in gambling. Coupled with new technologies and aggressive promotions and incentives, these messages can inhibit a person’s ability to control their gambling behavior (Phua, 2022). To overcome cognitive distortions and gain strides in debunking cognitive distortions recent research has indicated that students who have emotional awareness and emotional recognition skills are more able to recognize emotional states, and able to identify when they are reading misinformation (Knaus, 2023; VanDonkelaar, 2023).
This session will explore how youth prevention education focusing on emotion-based media literacy by decoding media messages and persuasive design and gaining mental health literacy through the lens of neurobiology has been shown to be effective in preventing problem gambling and other addictive behaviors and substances. Participants will also receive complimentary access to an evidence-informed lesson on media literacy in gaming and gambling
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Recall insecure attachment and emotional dysregulation as risk factors for youth problem gambling.
- Understand how emotion-based media literacy prevention education can impact decision-making.
- Discuss two evidence-based youth prevention education strategies.
