Gambling, alcohol consumption and extended wakefulness: A losing combination?

Harm from gambling may be exacerbated by physiological factors. Two such factors present in the current gambling environment are periods of extended wakefulness due to late evening patronage of gambling venues, and alcohol consumption, due to venues which offer gambling products also often encouraging the consumption of alcohol. Previous research has found that alcohol can influence gambling behaviour in several ways, such as increasing risk taking (Cronce & Corbin, 2010; Deans et al., 2016) and gambling session length (Baron & Dickerson, 1999; Ellery et al., 2005). However, little research has investigated how extended wakefulness impacts on gambling choices. There is also little evidence as to whether gambling might lead to sleep problems and, if so, how this relationship interacts with alcohol consumption. This thesis used three diverse methodologies to understand the relationship between gambling and sleep, and whether alcohol consumption was also implicated in this relationship. We found a positive relationship between gambling consumption and sleep problems. However, it is likely that this is due to individual differences in the propensity to engage in unhealthy behaviours, rather than a causal relationship between extended wakefulness and gambling intensity. Alcohol was also shown to be associated with increased gambling consumption, gambling problems, lesser overnight sleep duration, poor quality sleep and insomnia, all components of an unhealthy lifestyle.