What are escapists made of, and what does it have to do with excessive gambling and gaming?
Research shows that escapism and frustration of basic psychological needs are linked with gambling and gaming problems, but an effect of escapism combined with restricted autonomy, competence, and relatedness on excessive gambling and gaming remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify...
| Published in: | International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 1 - 19 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Feb2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=191498547&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 191498547 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 15571874 46AW jtl: International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction issn: 15571874 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Feb2026 vid: 24 iid: 1 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 191498547 10.1007/s11469-024-01394-x ppf: 1 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 900KB tig: atl: What are escapists made of, and what does it have to do with excessive gambling and gaming? aug: au: Jouhki, Hannu Savolainen, Iina Hagfors, Heli Vuorinen, Ilkka Oksanen, Atte affil: https://ror.org/033003e23 Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, 33014, Tampere, Finland https://ror.org/05shr7d71 A-Clinic Foundation, Helsinki, Finland su: Gaming disorder Autonomy (Psychology) Self-efficacy Compulsive gambling Dissociation (Psychology) Deprivation (Psychology) Finns Longitudinal method sug: subj: Gaming disorder Autonomy (Psychology) Self-efficacy Compulsive gambling Dissociation (Psychology) Deprivation (Psychology) Finns Longitudinal method keyword: Autonomy Competence Escapism Excessive gambling Excessive gaming Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Self-determination Autonomy Competence Escapism Excessive gambling Excessive gaming Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Self-determination ab: Research shows that escapism and frustration of basic psychological needs are linked with gambling and gaming problems, but an effect of escapism combined with restricted autonomy, competence, and relatedness on excessive gambling and gaming remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify shared characteristics of people who engage in escapist behavior and analyze to what extent the interaction of escapism and basic psychological need frustration predicts excessive gambling and gaming. We conducted a five-wave longitudinal survey with Finnish residents aged 18–75 years (n = 1530, 50.33% male) from April 2021 (T1) to April–May 2023 (T5). Measures included the Problem Gambling Severity Index, the ten-item Internet Gaming Disorder Test, and three escapism-specific questions. We analyzed the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale, sociodemographic controls, and personality traits using multilevel regression models. We found that escapism was related to autonomy frustration, competence frustration, male gender, impulsivity, openness, and having a significant other who has experienced gambling problems. Escapism predicted excessive gambling, and competence frustration moderated this association. Escapism also predicted excessive gaming, and autonomy frustration and competence frustration moderated this association. Research on and treatment of excessive gambling and gaming should consider these underlying factors driving escapism. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|