Gambling Involvement, Hopelessness, and Suicide-Related Indicators in a Turkish Online Convenience Sample

ABSTRACTObjective: We aimed to estimate gambling participation and positive screening for probable gambling disorder and to examine their associations with hopelessness and suicide-related outcomes in a Turkish online sample.Methods: In this cross-sectional web-based survey, 1,057 adults completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and Suicide Probability Scale (SPS). Group differences were examined using non-parametric tests, followed by multivariable regression analyses.Results: Gambling participation was reported by 30.7% (95% CI 28.0–33.6) of participants; 4.9% (95% CI 3.8–6.4) screened positive for probable gambling disorder using the Turkish SOGS cut-off of ≥8. Participants reporting gambling had higher BHS and SPS scores, and differences were more pronounced among those screening positive for probable gambling disorder. The between-group difference in SPS scores among participants reporting gambling corresponded to a moderate-to-large effect (r=0.497, 95% CI 0.343–0.653). After covariate adjustment, gambling participation was associated with a 1.46-point higher BHS (95% CI 0.79–2.13) and 5.26-point higher SPS scores (95% CI 3.15–7.36). Among participants reporting gambling, positive screening was associated with 2.60-point higher BHS (95% CI 0.88–4.32) and 12.59-point higher SPS scores (95% CI 7.21–17.96). Gambling participation was also associated with histories of suicidal ideation (OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.17–2.50) and suicide attempt (OR=2.54, 95% CI 1.32–4.88).Conclusions: Gambling involvement, particularly positive SOGS screening, was associated with greater hopelessness and suicide-related symptom burden. The cross-sectional design and non-probability sampling preclude causal interpretation and population-level prevalence estimates.