Adverse childhood experiences and problematic gambling among young adults: a moderated serial mediation analysis

Problem gambling is a serious public health issue among young adults today and the literature suggests that adverse childhood experiences may be associated with it. Additionally, difficulties in emotion regulation and self-control may contribute to the association between problem gambling and adverse childhood experiences. Sensation seeking and a family history of gambling may also influence these relationships. Hence, we examined the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and problem gambling among young adults. We analyzed the collected data from 579 young adults (18–29 years old, 67.5% male) via an online survey using a cross-sectional research design. More specifically, we tested the serial mediating roles of difficulties in emotion regulation and self-control, as well as the moderating roles of sensation seeking and a family history of gambling. We found a significant positive association between adverse childhood experiences and problem gambling. Both difficulties in emotion regulation and self-control had significant mediating effects. Sensation seeking and family history of gambling moderated the mediating effects, strengthening the pathways leading to problem gambling at higher levels of sensation seeking and in the presence of family gambling history. These findings indicate that emotion regulation and self-control are important psychological processes in explaining the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and problem gambling. They also suggest that high sensation seeking and a family history of gambling may strengthen the relationships.