The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER, Vol. 1(9) - The American Medical Association Adopts A Gambling Resolution

In 1994, at the American Medical Association’s (A.M.A.) annual meeting, the House of Delegates included a discussion of compulsive gambling. Consideration of the promotion, epidemiology, and hypothesized economic costs associated with gambling led to the adoption of a gambling resolution. Specifically, delegates from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont introduced issues of 1) gambling promotion by private entrepreneurs and state governments, 2) a prevalence estimate of 4.5% for pathological gambling, 3) participation in gambling by teenagers, which is estimated to be growing three times faster than among adults, and 4) an estimated cost in excess of $40... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 1(8) - Male Undergraduates Gamble More Than Female Undergraduates

Data from a randomly selected sample (n = 1,771) of undergraduates representing six purposively selected colleges and universities in the United States reveals that males gambled more than females on all forms of gambling with the exception of bingo. Although similar percentages of male (90%) and female (82%) undergraduates had gambled during their lifetimes, more than twice as many males (33%) as females (15%) gambled at least once a week. Males also had significantly more gambling problems than females: 25% of males and 8% of females experienced some gambling problems. Also, 9.3% of males and 2.4% of females were classified... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 1(7) - Guide Toward Standard Gambling Nomenclature

A variety of methods currently exist to estimate the prevalence of problem gambling. The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and its modifications, the Massachusetts Gambling Screen (MAGS), the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV criteria, the Multifactor Method, and Gambler’s Anonymous 20 questions all can provide estimates of disordered gambling rates. Most instruments allow for classification of individuals into three categories of problem severity. However, there is still considerable conceptual variation among these categories and estimation methods used to define disordered gambling. To facili­tate comparison among prevalence rates derived from studies that use different methods and category labels, Shaffer & Hall (in... Read more →

The WAGER 1(6) - Pathological Gambling among Methadone Patients

Research suggests that substance-abusing populations have higher rates of problem and pathological gambling than the general adult population. A recent study examined the gambling behavior of a random sample (n = 117) of respondents enrolled in a large methadone maintenance treatment program. The study found that methadone patients had higher rates of problem (15%) and probable pathological (16%) gambling than the general adult population. Although this study was based on a small sample from a single treatment program, other studies of substance-abusing patients provide support for these findings. For example, previous studies have found pathological gambling rates of 9% among... Read more →