An Exploratory Study of Shopping to Relieve Tension or Anxiety in Adolescents: Health Correlates and Gambling-Related Perceptions and Behaviors

Luis C. Farhat, Zu Wei Zhai, Rani A. Hoff, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin and Marc N. Potenza
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Luis C. Farhat: Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05403-903, Brazil
Zu Wei Zhai: Program in Neuroscience, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA
Rani A. Hoff: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Marc N. Potenza: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: The desire to escape from pressures/anxiety represents an important motivation for problematic engagement with short-term rewarding behaviors that could contribute to the development of recognized and candidate behavioral addictions, including problematic shopping, a prevalent condition among youth in the U.S.A. characterized by excessive shopping cognitions/behaviors that lead to distress/impairment. However, to date, the specific correlates of shopping to relieve anxiety or tension have yet to be evaluated. We aimed at addressing this gap by analyzing data (N = 2556) from a high-school survey from Connecticut in an exploratory fashion. Adolescents who acknowledged experiencing a growing tension or anxiety that could only be relieved by shopping were classified as having negative-reinforcement shopping and compared to the remaining students. Data were analyzed in chi-square and logistic regression models to examine negative-reinforcement shopping in relation to socio-demographics, health correlates, gambling-related perceptions/attitudes, and problem-gambling severity/gambling behaviors. Negative-reinforcement shopping was more frequent in female and Hispanic students, was linked to more permissive gambling attitudes and at-risk/problematic gambling, and was associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs, dysphoria/depression, and weapon-carrying and physical fighting. Taken together, these findings highlight adverse measures of health and functioning linked to negative-reinforcement shopping that may be particularly relevant to girls and Hispanic youth. Additional efforts to prevent negative outcomes are warranted.

Keywords: epidemiologic studies; addictive behaviors; adolescent; gambling; compulsive behavior; shopping; anxiety; substance use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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