The Association Between Anxiety and Gambling Frequency: A Comparative Analysis of Males and Females

by

Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Valerie Nazzaro

Live Poster Session: Will’s Zoom Link

Will Hansen

Hi everyone! I’m a sophomore from San Francisco, planning to major in Economics and minor in Data Analysis. On campus, I’m a member of the men’s lacrosse team and the Wesleyan Investment Group. In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities like golf, skiing, water sports, and scuba diving. I have two siblings and a golden retriever named Archie.

Abstract: Anxiety disorders have been discovered as a significant factor influencing problematic gambling disorder onset and general gambling frequency, with gender shown to moderate this relationship. Rates of individuals who identified as male have been noted to be highly susceptible to anxiety-induced gambling disorders, while females were found to be affected at a less extreme rate. In this study, I used a binary variable constructed from the results of The U.S. National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) to analyze how a person’s prescribed anxiety disorder predicts the level to which one becomes a pathological gambler along with overall frequency of gambling. A significant association was discovered between pathological gambling and anxiety disorders. This relationship was not found to be statistically different between males and females.

Hansen-QAC-201-ResearchPoster