Men with difficulties managing their emotions were more likely to develop gambling problems in the wake of the October 7 massacre, according to a new Hebrew University study published earlier this month.
Throughout human history, gambling has always been present as a source of entertainment as well as a way to create income. And, for as long as gambling has been a part of society, so has gambling addiction. Problem gambling, is defined as gambling that “disrupts or damages personal, family or recreational pursuits”.
According to Gavriel-Fried et al., (2023a), a representative study about gambling, around 16.7% of Israelis “reported low-risk and above in [problem gambling]”. Other studies on the subject found that men were more likely to engage in problem gambling than women, as well as people from lower socioeconomic statuses.
Separately, problem gambling has been associated with “difficulties in emotion regulation”. Problem gambling has also been tied to stress; these studies portray gambling as a means to relax. Still, the Hebrew University study points out, many of the studies on problem gambling are based on cross-sectional data.
Methods
Conducting a cross-sectional study means that data is collected only once, in contrast to a longitudinal study, which entails data collection over a period of time. A longitudinal study can be preferable in cases like this, as they measure change more easily. In this study, pre-October 7 data are compared to post-October 7 data, making clear the effects that the events of that day had on the sample.
The data for this study were collected four times: April 2022, December 2023, March 2024, and June 2024. Overall, over 12,000 surveys were filled out online by Jewish Hebrew speakers aged 18 to 70.
In the final sample, 445 men and 444 women were included, resulting in a total sample size of 889. The survey included demographic questions, as well as sections about substance use and other risk factors.
What did they find?
Although problem gambling has significantly increased in certain groups of Jewish Israeli adults, it has also decreased in others.
Whilst men who self-reported more difficulties in emotional regulation experienced a significant increase in problem gambling, people who had previously reported problem gambling without difficulties in emotional regulation now have a lower level of problem gambling.
The study shows that the collective psychological trauma of October 7th and the subsequent war has left Israeli Jewish adults reeling. Difficulties with emotional regulation are significantly higher in men and women, with men having a slightly higher Difficulty with Emotional Regulation Score (DERS) than women.
There has also been a clear increase in the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score among men in the study from April 2022 to the penultimate post-October 7th data collection in March 2024. The overall PGSI for people surveyed has also increased significantly, showing that people are turning to gambling in the wake of collective psychological trauma.
Unsurprisingly, the study also found that a higher DERS corresponded to a higher PGSI. People who struggle more to regulate and understand their emotions were more likely to turn towards gambling as a form of regulation or comfort.
The findings stayed consistent when age and level of education were taken into consideration, suggesting that this was an effect on the collective psyche of Jewish Israelis, not just on specific groups.
The future
The study looks at the psychological impacts of mass collective trauma on problem gambling, considering how people cope with extreme emotional distress and shared trauma.
By providing better insight into the struggles that cause people to develop problematic gambling habits, the study can hopefully pave the way to helping people work through the collective trauma.
It can help society move towards better emotional regulation, which will push current problem gamblers in the direction of the emotionally regulated problem gamblers from the 2022 study, who now report low scores on the PGSI.