The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Wager 8(26) - College Student Gambling in the United States: Part I

Increases in the availability of legalized gambling have been accompanied by increased concern about youth gambling. Initial empirical reports on the prevalence of youth gambling indicate that this concern might be warranted. A meta-analysis of published studies of college students estimated the prevalence rate of lifetime problem gambling at 5.6% - approximately three times the rate found in the adult population (1.9%)(Shaffer & Hall, 2001). This week The WAGER reports on a recent publication of findings from a longitudinal study of college students in Missouri (Slutske, Jackson, & Sher, 2003). When the study began, the 468 participants were first-time college... Read more →

The Wager, Volume 8(25) - The Relationships Among Suicide, Mental Illness and Gambling

Last week, The WAGER discussed research suggesting that underlying depression in pathological gamblers might contribute to the high levels of suicide ideation found in this population. This week, The WAGER continues this important discussion by reviewing a study that attempted to clarify the complex relationships among suicide, mental illness, and pathological gambling. Newman and Thompson (2003) analyzed data from two telephone surveys of mental disorders, one conducted between 1983 and 1986 and the other between 1984 and 1989; both surveys used the same methodology. There were 7,214 participants (71.8% response rate): all were household residents at least 18 years of... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 8, Editorial, The World's Only Gambling Court

The views expressed in this article are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The WAGER, its sponsors, or affiliated organizations. © Copyright 2003, all rights reserved worldwide. Gambling and the Law® is a registered trademark of Professor I. Nelson Rose, Whittier Law School, Costa Mesa, CA. Is compulsive gambling a disease? The prevailing view in the law is that gambling is a vice. Compulsive gamblers who destroy their lives may be pitied, but they are punished for their moral weakness, not treated. In this view, telling judges or juries that defendants committed... Read more →

The Wagerm Volume 8(24) - Gambling: A life or death issue?

Suicide is a public health problem that popular culture frequently associates with gambling. There is evidence linking gambling to potential risks for suicide such as financial problems, marital tension, and job loss (Bergh & Kuehlhorn, 1994; Ladouceur, Arsenault, Dube, Freeston, & Jacques, 1997). However, due in part to the difficulty of identifying the primary cause of a suicide, researchers have been unable to correlate changes in suicide rates to changes in problem gambling rates (see WAGER 7(35) for a review). The relationship between suicide and gambling is important and The WAGER will continue to cover new studies on this topic... Read more →

The Wager, Volume 8(23) - Gambling and Psychiatric Comorbidity Among Older African Americans

Although anyone who gambles can become a disordered gambler, there is evidence suggesting that certain groups might be at greater risk (e.g., McNeilly & Burke, 2000; Shaffer & Hall, 1996). For example, certain groups might be at increased risk for disordered gambling due to age, depressed economic or social status, low education level, lack of accessibility to information, and a variety of other factors. This week’s WAGER presents the results of a study by Bazargan, Bazargan and Akanda (2000) that examined the effects of gambling on one demographic group often presumed to be at high risk—elderly African Americans. Bazargan et... Read more →