How general functioning of family affects gambling-related beliefs: the mediating role of communication and the moderating role of impulsivity trait

Dapeng Zhang; Shuang Zhou; Hui Zheng; Lei Guo; Jing Zhai; Ziqi Liu; Zheyi Du; Ping Dong; Min Zhao; Jiang Du

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165053

How general functioning of family affects gambling-related beliefs: the mediating role of communication and the moderating role of impulsivity trait

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 13:14:1165053. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165053. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Dapeng Zhang^#^{1

2}, Shuang Zhou^#², Hui Zheng^#^{2

3}, Lei Guo^{2

3}, Jing Zhai^{2

3}, Ziqi Liu^{2

3}, Zheyi Du², Ping Dong², Min Zhao^{2

3

4}, Jiang Du^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ The Third People's Hospital of Fuyang, Fuyang, China.
² Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Gambling behaviors can be exhibited by individuals raised in families with impaired parent-child communication and individuals with more impulsive traits. However, it remains unclear how gambling-related beliefs are modulated by impulsivity traits and parent-child communication styles.

Methods: A total of 95 adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) diagnosed via DSM-5 criteria with gambling disorder (GD) completed our questionnaire. Participants filled out pen-and-paper questionnaires that included basic demographic information, the Family Assessment Device (FAD), Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS), Gambling Attitude and Belief Survey (GABS), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). We used a moderation mediation model to explore the relationship between variables. The study results were considered statistically significant if p < 0.05, or the 95% confidence interval did not contain zero.

Results: The scores of the problems in communication with mother subscale (PCMS) of PACS were significantly positively correlated with the scores of GABS and the general functioning 12-item subscale (GF12) of FAD. The relationship between the scores of GF12 and GABS was completely mediated [β = 4.83, (1.12, 10.02)] by PCMS scores, and the BIS scores moderated this relationship: the predictive path between GF12 and PCMS scores [index of moderated was β = -0.25, (-0.60, -0.04)], and the indirect predictive front path between the scores of GF12 and GABS were significant only in subjects with low BIS scores.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that poor general functioning of the family may increase gambling-related beliefs as a result of communication problems with mothers, and this result is only significant for individuals with low impulsivity. When treating patients with GD, more treatment of mother-child communication issues and individual impulsivity may be more conducive to their recovery.

Keywords: family functioning; gambling disorder; impulsivity; moderation mediation model; parent-child communication.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (8187051622, 8217050343, 81771436, and 82130041), Scientific Research Project of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (19411969200), the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (2018SHZDZX05), the Shanghai Shenkang Hospital Development Center (SHDC2020CR3045B), the Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Mental Health (19MC1911100), the Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Intelligent Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation (19DZ2255200), the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders (13DZ2260500), and the Lingang Lab (Grant LG202106-03-01).