The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER, Vol 4(35) - Back to School: Gambling & Correlates among University Students

Risk-taking and sensation-seeking are perennial topics of study for those interested in compulsive gambling [see WAGER issues 4(14), 3(36), and 3(2)]. Many of the studies have addressed possible correlations between these two factors and pathological gambling. Powell, Hardoon, Derevensky, and Gupta (1999) attempt to expand the scope of such research by examining risk-taking and sensation-seeking in all categories of gamblers: those with no problems, those with some problems, and those that are classified as probable pathological by the SOGS. The authors used a university sample of 28 males and 30 females which included 11 probable pathological gamblers, 24 problem gamblers,... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol 4(34) - How we Gamble: Lessons from the Damaged Brain

Much of the neuroscientific literature on gambling focuses on the anatomy and chemistry of gambling as a pathology [see WAGER issues 2(18), 3(24), 3(30), 3(33), 4(1), 4(22), etc.). But abnormal psychology is not the only field to be placed under the lens of biomedicine. Much effort has also been dedicated to understanding the neurobiology of how we gamble. By learning about how non-compulsive subjects gamble, we may in the future be able to better understand how pathological subjects gamble. In a recent study, Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, and Lee (1999)1 use a relatively simple methodology to determine how various brain structures... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol 4(33) - A Gateway Behavior?

Last week, the WAGER discussed some of the recommendations made by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC); two weeks ago the topic was prevalence estimates presented in the Commission's final report. But the primary purpose of the Commission, as its name implies, was to investigate "the social and economic implications of gambling in the United States." This week, the WAGER focuses on this purpose. The costs and benefits of gambling are difficult topics for investigation. How can social and economic impact be operationalized and measured? Can such costs and benefits be quantified in dollars? Are we gauging the impact... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol 4(32) - The National Gambling Impact Study Comission: Part II

Last week's WAGER examined the prevalence estimates submitted to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). But the prevalence research occupies only a few out of the final report's nearly 300 pages. Primarily, the NGISC produced a document of policy recommendations that may inform future legislative and regulatory activity. Following the highly anticipated release of the final report, pundits from the media and elsewhere attempted to take stock and decide who would ultimately benefit most: the gaming industry or anti-gambling activists. Both sides claimed victory, but such discourse reduces the significance of the... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol 4(31) - The National Gambling Impact Stusy Comission: Part I

On August 3, 1996, President Clinton signed Public Law 104-169, which authorized the creation of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. This body was charged with conducting "a comprehensive legal and factual study of the social and economic impacts of gambling in the United States." The Commission, composed of nine members and chaired by Kay James, submitted its final report on June 18th of this year. Despite popular perception, the report is not a document dedicated exclusively to the study of pathological gambling. Its scope is much wider, and includes an assessment of the state of the gaming industry, a... Read more →