The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER, Vol. 3(4) - Revisiting comorbidity among adult gamblers in Ontario

A previous WAGER described the extent of substance abuse, measured in a variety of ways, among a sample of 2,016 randomly selected Ontario adult gamblers**. The results indicated that heavier gamblers did binge drink and smoke heavily significantly more than others (light/moderate gamblers, infrequent gamblers, or non-gamblers), but they were not detected to be more alcohol dependent. When asked about problems specific to alcohol or gambling behaviors, heavier gamblers reported more problems than respondents in the other groups. Specifically, heavier gamblers (spent $50 or more in the past 30 days on gambling) reported significantly more harm to their home life... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 3(3) - A Tribute to Tom Cummings, Jan 21, 1921 - Jan 12, 1998

Thomas N. Cummings of Braintree, Massachusetts, founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, died unexpectedly Monday in Massachusetts General Hospital. He was 76. A special friend and colleague, Tom helped to found and support the WAGER. Tom was born in Boston and graduated from Mission High School before serving in the Army Reserve in Trinidad during World War II. After the war, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Boston University in 1950. He sold insurance for several years until 1960, when he began a 25-year career as a teacher. He taught English... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 3(2) - Children's risk taking and sensation seeking

A deeper understanding of risk-taking will increase insight about gambling behaviors. Miller & Byrnes have developed a model of risk-taking called the Self-Regulation Model (SRM). The conceptual theory driving the SRM is the following: the key to being successful is knowing how and when to take risks with strategies for accomplishing goals. Specifically, the model poses five self-regulatory tendencies that increase the chances of a risk-taker meeting their specified goal: (1) knowledge of strategies for attaining a goal, (2) ability to coordinate multiple goals, (3) calibrated sense of uncertainty (accurate knowledge of the probability of possible outcomes), (4) self-correcting strategies... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 3(1) - Meta-analysis of disordered gambling in the US and Canada

During the past two decades, there has been a broad expansion of gambling (e.g., lottery, casino, and charitable) across the United States and Canada. This social and economic development has prompted researchers and policy makers to ask questions about the extent of disordered gambling. A recent study1 quantitatively integrated the findings of previously conducted independent disordered gambling prevalence studies. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to establish more precise estimates of the prevalence of this phenomenon than is available from any single study. One hundred twenty of 152 identified studies’ results were analyzed in the meta-analysis. Collinearity (multiple patterns of... Read more →