The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER Vol. 9(13) - In the Mood for a Relapse?

Understanding the predictors of relapse is an important first step towards developing relapse prevention strategies. Whereas past studies have examined the predictors of relapse for substance abusers, few studies have characterized the experience for those with a gambling disorder. This week’s WAGER reports on a study by Hodgins and el-Guebaly (2004) that investigated the precipitants of relapse in a cohort of intemperate gamblers. Hodgins and el-Guebaly recruited 101 research participants through media announcements. Inclusion criteria included a lifetime South Oak Gambling Screen (Lesieur & Blume, 1987) score greater than 4, a self-perceived gambling problem, having quit gambling within the past... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(12) - Class II Gaming: Coming to a Reservation Near You!

Imagine you are a farmer tending to your corn and cattle in 1940s Iowa. After a long week of toiling in the fields, you decide that some weekend entertainment is in order and consider casino gambling. But such a trip would take a week or more because Nevada has the only legal gambling venue of the day. Because you could never leave your farm for that long, you forget gambling and instead spend the weekend with friends. Fast-forward to 2004. Again, you are a farmer in Iowa, except now you have as many as 16 Indian and commercial casinos within... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(11) - Attribution, Addiction, and Gambling: Series Conclusion

Series Special Editor: Sarah E. Nelson Attributions play a role in all aspects of addiction. Attributions for wins and losses can influence the development of gambling problems (see WAGER 9(6)); attributions about peers’ drinking behavior can affect a person’s own drinking behavior (see WAGER 9(7)); being labeled as a heavy smoker can alter people’s attributions about their smoking (see WAGER 9(8)); people’s attributions about their own addictive behavior differ in predictable ways from attributions they make about others’ addictive behaviors (see WAGER 9(9)); and the attributions people make about their addictions can predict their own chances for recovery or likelihood... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(10) - Attribution, Addiction, and Gambling: I think I can't, I think I can't

Series Special Editor:Sarah E. Nelson A student who fails a math test can attribute that failure to any number of reasons. She might believe that she didn’t study enough for the test or that her lack of sleep the night before contributed to her poor grade. Or maybe she attributes her failure to her complete and unchangeable stupidity at all school subjects, a conclusion that can lead to learned helplessness. Originally defined only in terms of behavioral responses to stimuli, (Seligman, Maier, & Geer, 1968), learned helplessness has since been reformulated in terms of the attributions people make (Abramson, Seligman,... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(9) - Attribution, Addiction, and Gambling: The cookie jar made me do it

Series Special Editor:Sarah E. Nelson Your hectic schedule has left no time for lunch and now you’re starving. As you’re being rushed into yet another meeting, you notice someone has left freshly baked cookies on their desk. It calls out to you. You swipe the cookie just as a co-worker passes by. She clicks her tongue disapprovingly. In your own mind, your actions were a product of the situation you found yourself in. But your coworker sees it differently: she attributes your actions to personal dishonesty. This tendency to attribute our own behavior to situational causes and the behavior of... Read more →