The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER Vol. 9(34) - Playing for more than lunch money: An examination of adolescent gambling

Though adolescents are unlikely to suffer the same economic and familial consequences as adult gamblers, adolescents who gamble excessively1 are at increased risk for “delinquency and crime, the disruption of relationships, and impaired academic performance and work activities” (Ladouceur, Dubé, & Bujold, 1994). These consequences could seriously impact the future lives of these youths, and indeed, it seems that they carry over to other phases of life: a recent study of college gamblers found that these students were also less likely to be academically successful than their non-gambling counterparts, and more likely to use illicit drugs (Labrie, Shaffer, LaPlante, &... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(33) - Do Sweat the Small Stuff: Autonomic Nervous System Non-Response to Gambling Losses in Huntington’s Disease Patients

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is defined as a genetic neurodegenerative disorder with middle-aged onset. Symptoms include involuntary muscle movements and deterioration of cognitive processes and memory. As a result of the changes in cognitive processes, the development of HD can increase risky decision-making. This risky shift can in turn be associated with poor performance on gambling tasks (see WAGER 6(24), or Stout, Rodawalt, & Siemers, 2001). This week, The WAGER reviews research that used HD as a model to examine the role of the autonomic nervous system in risky decision-making (Campbell, Stout, & Finn, 2004). More specifically, this study examined skin... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(32) - Reading Around the Lines:Do Trends in Gambling Approval and Participation Reflect the Times?

Special Notes: This week’s WAGER was co-authored by Alexa Rubenstein, an intern at the Division on Addictions. She will be a sophomore at Harvard University next fall, where she is concentrating in psychology. This week’s Guest Editor is Gavin Michael LaPlante Forbes, 9lbs 9 oz 21 in., born 8/7/04 to the WAGER’s previous Editor, Debi LaPlante. The rapid casino growth and increased gaming participation rates in the United States during the past decade have raised concern among social observers that disordered gambling might become a new epidemic. However, to understand the current trends in gambling expansion, we need to set... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 9(31) - A Passion for the Game: Pros and Cons

Whether engaging in cooking, golf, or music, it is not uncommon for a person to feel passionately about a hobby. For most people, engaging their passions is a fulfilling, relaxing, and satisfying experience; certain levels of passion, however, have the potential to have a destructive effect. In a recent innovative study, Ratelle, Vallerand, Mageau, Rousseau, and Provencher (2004) examined whether subjects who cited passionate feelings toward gambling specifically exhibited positive (i.e., “harmonious”) or negative (i.e., “obsessive”) passions about gambling. They also explored whether problem gambling was more common among subjects with obsessive passion toward gambling. This week’s WAGER presents their... Read more →