Date of Award

2026-05-01

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

Advisor(s)

.Theodore V. Cooper

Abstract

Gambling has become increasingly accessible and socially normalized among young adults, particularly through mobile platforms and the expansion of legalized sports betting. Hispanic college students may be at heightened risk for gambling-related harms, given evidence of elevated rates of problem gambling, comorbid mental health concerns, and underrepresentation in empirical research. Cultural factors, such as acculturation, may further influence engagement in gambling behaviors and susceptibility to negative outcomes. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, the present study investigated the relationships between gambling injunctive norms, gambling attitudes, and gambling self-efficacy across three outcomes: gambling frequency, problem gambling severity, and gambling intention. Additionally, this study examined whether acculturation and enculturation moderated these relationships. Participants included 318 Hispanic college students recruited from a U.S.-Mexico border university. Participants completed self-report measures assessing sociodemographic characteristics, gambling attitudes and norms, gambling intentions, gambling self-efficacy, gambling behaviors, problem gambling severity, and acculturation/enculturation. Two linear regression analyses were conducted to test main and interaction effects, controlling for age and sex, and negative binomial regression analysis was utilized to assess gambling frequency after it was observed to have a non-normal distribution to be zero inflated. Results indicated that gambling attitudes were positively associated with gambling frequency, problem gambling severity, and gambling intention. Gambling self-efficacy was negatively associated with gambling intention, problem gambling severity, gambling intention, suggesting a protective effect. Neither acculturation nor enculturation significantly moderated any of the examined relationships. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive and perceived control factors in understanding gambling behaviors among Hispanic college students. By integrating culturally relevant constructs within an established theoretical framework, this study contributes to the growing literature on gambling in underrepresented populations. Implications include the development of culturally responsive prevention and intervention strategies that target maladaptive attitudes and enhance self-efficacy to reduce gambling-related harm.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

81 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Joshua Torres

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