Abstract
Gambling-related harm reflects more than how often people gamble; age and personality may shape the psychological processes that distinguish participation from problematic involvement. This cross-sectional study examined associations among age, Big Five and Dark Triad traits, impulsivity, sensation seeking, gambling behavior, problem gambling severity, gambling satisfaction, and sports fanship among English speaking adults recruited through Prolific. Younger age predicted greater problem gambling severity, but was not associated with preferred betting medium. Personality significantly predicted impulsivity and sensation seeking: conscientiousness predicted lower impulsivity, while openness showed a positive trend with sensation seeking. Among participants who gambled, narcissism positively predicted problem gambling severity. Exploratory indirect-effect analyses identified significant indirect associations from conscientiousness to problem gambling through impulsivity and from age to problem gambling through narcissism. These findings distinguish gambling participation from gambling-related harm and identify self-regulation and narcissistic risk tendencies as potential areas for future health communication research; research and practice should consider targeted and tailored gambling intervention messages in light of this research.