Thesis abstract:

«p»Disordered gambling is a psychopathological condition recognised to contribute to significant interpersonal and financial harms for those affected. Understanding the factors that underpin the onset and maintenance of disordered gambling is an important step in develop pathways for recovery. Fears about death, or death anxiety, has recently been recognised as a transdiagnostic construct across several mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders. Whether death anxiety and its related existential concerns may contribute to increased problem gambling behaviours is an avenue yet to be examined. Through a combination of correlational and experimental studies, the current project aims to investigate whether concerns around death do play a critical role in the exacerbation of problematic gambling, in both community and clinically-relevant populations. «/p»