Research Update

The gambling industry is often scrutinized for its influence on gambling research studies.  This scrutiny is based upon the belief that industry funders have an agenda that seeks to influence the research that it funds.  A previous

Internet gambling has grown substantially over the past decade and with this growth, comes the risk of gambling problems among participants.  In order to study the economic tendencies of online gambling subscribers, Tom, et al.

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is growing rapidly within the gambling industry, as it allows players the opportunity to create their own “fantasy teams” of individual players and compete for cash-prizes.  Some stakeholders have expressed concerns over the dangers of DFS and related harm players may experience from its accelerated nature of play.   Sarah Nelson, PhD, from Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, set out to explore DFS data.

What is the aim?

Opportunities to gamble have increased starkly over the last 50 years, and with it has come a shift in social attitude towards gambling. Wendy Slutske, PhD, recipient of a 2017 NCRG Center of Excellence Grant, set out to compare the role of genetics and environment from two National Twin Studies, collected about 50 years apart, on propensity to gamble.

The Responsible Gaming Association of New Mexico, a collaboration of many of the state’s Native American owned casinos, has awarded NCRG a grant of $300,000 in support of research on the subpopulations of New Mexico, including racial or ethnic subgroups such as Native Americans or Hispanics/Latinos, age-based subgroups such as older adults or youth, and/or highly targeted subgroups such as Native American young adults living in Albuquerque.

Peter Nathan, University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Public Health Emeritus, died on May 8, 2016, at the age of 81. The world knew Dr. Nathan as an internationally recognized scientist and researcher, focused on alcohol use disorder and other areas of addiction as well as a major figure at the University of Iowa where he served as provost and acting president. However, Dr. Nathan also made an outstanding contribution to the field of gambling disorder studies through his work with the NCRG’s scientific advisory board where he spearheaded efforts to raise the standards for conducting research on disordered gambling and recruited other distinguished scientists to the work of the NCRG. For more information and to post an online memory, visit http://www.lensingfuneral.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=898044#/obituaryInfo

This year the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) is celebrating 20 years of funding high quality, peer-reviewed scientific research on gambling disorder. Since 1996 the NCRG has awarded more than $18 million in support of investigations of gambling disorder and youth and college gambling through its competitive grants program. The NCRG is proud to continue this mission by offering Travel Grants, Seed Grants and Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research Grants in 2016.

The fourth annual Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction will be held March 18-19, 2016, in San Diego. This year’s theme is “Reducing Health Disparities through Addiction Science and Practice.” The deadline for poster proposals to be considered for travel awards is Dec. 4, 2015. If your topic is focused on disordered gambling, consider applying to the NCRG for a Travel Grant. NCRG will provide up to $1,500 in support of registration fees and travel expenses.

Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction is sponsored by the Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50 of the American Psychological Association), which promotes advances in research, professional training, and clinical practice within the broad range of addictive behaviors.

Teenagers are known for making risky decisions. But does research support this assumption? A new study from Duke University, funded in part by the NCRG, found that adolescents aged 10 to 16 can be more analytical in their economic choices than many slightly older adults. Published in the October-December issue of the journal, Cognitive Development, the study suggests that  not only should we give teenagers more credit for rationality but also that parents should help children hone their cost-benefit analysis skills in making real-life decisions (Youngbin, Payne, Cohen, & Huettel, 2015). One of the authors, Scott Huettel, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke, explained that while not as irrational as usually characterized, adolescents don’t use the simple rules of decision-making as effectively as adults. For example, young adults are more sensitive to positive outcomes than adults. This accounts for the many risky behaviors observed in this age group, including gambling.

Did you know that only about 15 percent of disordered gamblers in the US seek treatment or attend self-help groups (Slutske, 2006)? However, nearly half of lifetime disordered gamblers received treatment for some other mental or substance problem (Kessler et al., 2008). According to the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, increased screening for emerging gambling problems in clients already in treatment might be an opportunity to prevent full-blown gambling disorders (Kessler et al., 2008).