Do women gamble for the same reasons as men?

A study involving 83 female and 72 male gamblers tested the direct and interactional effects of avoidance coping and five dysphoric moods on problem gambling. Important differences were found between female and male gamblers. For female gamblers loneliness, boredom, anxiety, depression and avoidance coping all independently predicted problem gambling as was expected. Additionally, as expected, interactions between each mood and avoidance coping significantly predicted problem gambling, such that female gamblers with high dysphoria and high avoidance coping tended to show substantially more symptoms of problem gambling than those high in only one variable. In contrast, results for males revealed that only loneliness, boredom and stress significantly predicted problem gambling. Contrary to expectations neither avoidance coping nor the any of the interactional relationships between dysphoric mood and avoidance coping predicted problem gambling. These results supported research by Brown and Coventry (1997) and suggest that some females may be gambling to escape dysphoric moods. There was no indication that this motivation applies to male gamblers.