Gender Difference in the Relationship between Gambling Severity and Health Correlates among Hong Kong People

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the gender difference in the relationship between gambling severity and health correlates among Hong Kong people. Cross-sectional design was used in this study. 56 male and 28 female participants whose age 18 or above were recruited into the study with Gambling severity, the risk of alcohol use, anxiety level, severity of depression, self-perceived physical and mental health were examined by standardized tools. Multiple regression predicted gambling severity (dependent variables) by health correlates (risk of alcohol use, anxiety level, severity of depression, self-perceived physical and mental health), which were classified as independent variables both in male and female participants. Pearson correlations were utilized to explore the relationship between gambling severity and health correlates in both genders. Results indicated that gender difference toward the relationship between gambling severity and several independent variables varied. For male, significant positive correlations were found between gambling severity and the risk of alcohol use, anxiety level but negative correlation with self-perceived mental health. Multiple regression showed that health correlates mentioned above significantly accounted for 19.3% of the variance of gambling severity, with the risk of alcohol use being the only significant predictor of the variance. For female, only significant positive correlation was found between gambling severity and risk of alcohol use. Multiple regression showed that health correlates mentioned above significantly accounted for 38.2% of the variance of gambling severity, with the risk of alcohol use being the only significant predictor of the variance. In conclusion, risk of alcohol use might be one of the important predictors of gambling severity among Hong Kong people from different age groups in both genders. Further investigations are recommended to find out other significant predictors on gambling severity. Keywords: gambling, gender, alcohol use