The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER Vol. 8(48) - Paths to Recovery: Using Natural Recovery Research on Alcoholism to Inform Pathological Gambling Research

It is sometimes difficult for people who experience gambling related problems to find a suitable treatment program, pay for services and schedule large amounts of time to attend meetings and sessions; like smokers who have quit, a large proportion of people likely rely upon self-directed or natural recovery to change their gambling behaviors. Natural recovery refers to the process by which individuals with maladaptive behaviors (e.g., alcohol use disorders, drug abuse, gambling related problems) attain a state of recovery without the help of a formal or informal treatment program. There is some evidence that natural recovery is a fairly common... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 8(47) - We Don’t Have a Problem Till We Have a Problem… Or Do We?

Gambling has joined drinking, drugs, and breaking curfew as one of those activities adults believe adolescents do too much. Estimates of adolescent gambling problems support this view – adolescents consistently demonstrate higher prevalence rates of disordered gambling than adults (Shaffer & Hall, 2001). Yet, despite these elevated rates, adolescents rarely seek treatment (Gupta & Derevensky, 2000). This week’s WAGER reviews an article by Hardoon, Deverensky, and Gupta (2003) that attempts to explain this discrepancy and raises questions about the role of perception and awareness in the measurement of disorders. Hardoon and her colleagues (2003) recruited 980 students (M = 18.6... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 8(46) - Investigating individual differences: Do pathological gambling characteristics vary with preferred gambling activity?

In our last two WAGER’s (8(44), 8(45)), we reviewed research by Nancy Petry that examined how gamblers differ depending on treatment profiles. This week, we will discuss more research by Petry (2003) investigating whether another personal dimension, choice of gambling type, can similarly inform us about problem gamblers. To explore this question, Petry investigated the gambling characteristics of five major types of gamblers: sports gamblers, horse/dog-race wagerers, card players, slot machine gamblers and lottery/scratch ticket gamblers. Petry recruited 347 individuals beginning treatment for pathological gambling. Each individual was asked to identify their most problematic form of gambling to determine group... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 8(45) - Learning from History: Prior Gamblers Anonymous Attendance

Last week, The WAGER discussed differences between two groups of gamblers presenting for treatment: gamblers with and without substances abuse treatment histories. Ladd and Petry (2003) found greater severity of gambling, substance use and psychological problems among patients with a history of substance abuse treatment. Using similar methodology, Petry (2003) investigated the impact of another aspect of treatment history: previous involvement with Gamblers Anonymous (GA). This week’s WAGER examines the relationship between GA attendance, the extent of gambling problems at treatment presentation, and treatment outcomes. Petry’s study of GA attendance was conducted using the same sample and methodology as the... Read more →