Impulsivity as a mediator in the relationship between depression and problem gambling

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of impulsivity as a mediator in the relationship between depression and problem gambling in a non-clinical sample. A questionnaire containing demographic questions, the Revised South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS-R), a depression inventory, and the Eysenck impulsiveness scale was completed by 159 New Zealand university students who gambled for money, aged 18–49 years (mean = 27.9, SD = 10.2). Depression, impulsivity and problem gambling were significantly correlated (p < 0.01), after controlling for sex and age. Multiple linear regression analysis of data showed that impulsivity functioned as a full mediator between depression and problem gambling. The findings were related to an integrated model of problem gambling wherein the path of emotional vulnerability (depression) to the severity of problem gambling, is mediated by an impulsive trait. Therapies for impulse control could be supplemented with treatments which alleviate emotional depression in impulsive gamblers and thus attenuate the strengths of the effects of depression and impulsivity on problem gambling symptoms.