Presenter
Siera Creekmore; Amanda Adams; Andrea Trejo; Olivia Castagno
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) encompasses a variety of symptoms that impact cognitive functioning and can result in altered consciousness. Previous research (Herrold et al., 2015; Miller et al., 2013; Davies et al., 2023) has identified a correlation between TBI and addiction-related disorders, including alcohol use disorder, as well as the usage of addiction services. Addiction-related disorders can also include behavioral addictions, which include persistent and recurrent problematic behaviors that result in clinically significant impairments or distress (American Psychological Association, 2013), and additional research findings suggest correlations between TBI and behavioral addictions such as pathological gambling (Bhatti et al., 2018; Regard et al., 2003). This study’s purpose is to determine the association between TBI and behavioral addictions. For this study, 1022 participants who were 18-25 years old and who lived in RI for at least part of the year took part in a digital quantitative cross-sectional survey in 2022 to identify instances of TBI and behavioral addictions. The results of the study showed no significant correlations between TBI history and problematic gambling, videogaming, or pornography behavior. However, the results of the study showed a significant correlation between self reported TBI and problematic smartphone use and between medically diagnosed TBI and problematic smartphone use.
Faculty Mentor
Jonathan Mosko, Ph.D.
Academic Discipline
College of Arts & Sciences
Repository Citation
Creekmore, Siera; Adams, Amanda; Trejo, Andrea; and Castagno, Olivia, "Association Between TBI and Behavioral Addictions" (2026). Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium. 354.
https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/innov_symposium/354
