The illusion of handy wins: Problem gambling, chasing, and affective decision-making

Background Chasing losses is a behavioral marker and a diagnostic criterion for gambling disorder. It consists in continuing gambling to recoup previous losses. Although chasing has been recognized playing a central role in gambling disorder, research on this topic is relatively scarce, and it remains unclear whether chasing affects decision-making in behavioral tasks in which participants gain or loss some money. Even if several studies found that the more the gambling involvement, the poorer the decision-making, to date no research investigated the role of chasing in decision-making. Methods The study aimed to first investigate the relation between chasing and decision-making in adult gamblers. One hundred and four VLT players were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), a computerized task measuring chasing, and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Results Correlation analysis showed that the higher the SOGS scores, the higher the propensity to chase, and the poorer the decision-making performance. Regression analysis revealed that chasing propensity and gambling severity predicted IGT performance. Mediation analysis indicated that the association between gambling severity and poor decision-making is mediated by chasing. Limitations Gambling severity was assessed by means of a self-report measure. The generalizability of findings is limited, since the study focused only on VLT players. Conclusions This study provides the first evidence that chasing, along with gambling severity, affects decision-making, at least in behavioral tasks involving money. Since chasers and non-chasers could be two different sub-types of gamblers, treatment protocols should take into account the additive role of chasing in gambling disorder.