Applying Self-Coding to the Measurement of Self-Generated Video Gaming and Gambling Memory Associations

Recently the use of implicit memory associations has expanded in the addiction literature to include the assessment of video gaming and gambling. However, the issue with memory associations lies in the open-ended nature of the answers that must be coded, which is often labour-intensive, costly, and where the ambiguity cannot always be resolved. The present study evaluates participant self-coding of memory associations versus researcher coding in the assessment of memory associations for video gaming and gambling. A sample of 3,176 Canadian adults were asked to produce responses to ten ambiguous words and ten potential behavioural associations for engagement in video gaming or gambling. Participants were subsequently asked to classify what categories their responses belonged to, including video gaming and gambling. Consistent with the literature on alcohol and marijuana memory associations, self-coded scores for video gaming and gambling were significantly higher than scores coded by the researchers, had significantly higher correlations with self-reported behaviours, and significantly improved the prediction of video gaming and gambling behaviours.