Research Update

Inpatient treatment programs have been helping people with substance-use disorders for decades, but only recently have they been used in the treatment of pathological gambling. The Louisiana Center of Recovery (CORE) was one of the first inpatient treatment facilities dedicated to treating disordered gambling. The following is an excerpt from the article, “Louisiana Treatment Center is a Model for State-Funded Programs,” which was originally published in the spring 2010 edition of Responsible Gaming Quarterly.

In June of 1999, the state of Louisiana’s Office for Addictive Disorders, with support from the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling and the state’s casinos and gaming companies, opened a one-of-a-kind residential treatment center for those suffering from pathological gambling. It was called the Center of Recovery (CORE) and, at that time, was the only state-funded center with a primary focus on treating gambling disorders.

“There was a visionary thinker, Jake Hadley, in the Office for Addictive Disorders, and he felt that pathological gambling was a major public health concern for the citizens of Louisiana,” said CORE executive director Reece Middleton. “He wanted to address the problem in a proactive fashion, and thought those affected would benefit most from a residential treatment facility.”

Inpatient treatment programs have been helping people with substance-use disorders for decades, but only recently have they been used in the treatment of pathological gambling. The Louisiana Center of Recovery (CORE) was one of the first inpatient treatment facilities dedicated to treating disordered gambling. The following is an excerpt from the article, “Louisiana Treatment Center is a Model for State-Funded Programs,” which was originally published in the spring 2010 edition of Responsible Gaming Quarterly.

In June of 1999, the state of Louisiana’s Office for Addictive Disorders, with support from the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling and the state’s casinos and gaming companies, opened a one-of-a-kind residential treatment center for those suffering from pathological gambling. It was called the Center of Recovery (CORE) and, at that time, was the only state-funded center with a primary focus on treating gambling disorders.

“There was a visionary thinker, Jake Hadley, in the Office for Addictive Disorders, and he felt that pathological gambling was a major public health concern for the citizens of Louisiana,” said CORE executive director Reece Middleton. “He wanted to address the problem in a proactive fashion, and thought those affected would benefit most from a residential treatment facility.”

Do men and women have the same experience with gambling problems or with recovery? Or, are there gender differences that have been observed in studies of other addictive behaviors? The following is an excerpt from the article, “New Study Explores Gender Differences in Treatment-Seeking, Recovery,” which was originally published in the spring 2010 edition of Responsible Gaming Quarterly.

Women are more likely than men to seek treatment for and recover from pathological gambling, although the vast majority of people are able to recover from pathological gambling without formal treatment, according to a new study published in Twin Research and Human Genetics.

The study, conducted by Wendy S. Slutske from the University of Missouri, Alex Blaszczynski from the University of Sydney and Nicholas G. Martin from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, is the first ever to document gender differences in treatment-seeking and recovery from pathological gambling. Participants in the study were 4,764 members of the Australian Twin Registry Cohort II sample.

Do men and women have the same experience with gambling problems or with recovery? Or, are there gender differences that have been observed in studies of other addictive behaviors? The following is an excerpt from the article, “New Study Explores Gender Differences in Treatment-Seeking, Recovery,” which was originally published in the spring 2010 edition of Responsible Gaming Quarterly.

Women are more likely than men to seek treatment for and recover from pathological gambling, although the vast majority of people are able to recover from pathological gambling without formal treatment, according to a new study published in Twin Research and Human Genetics.

The study, conducted by Wendy S. Slutske from the University of Missouri, Alex Blaszczynski from the University of Sydney and Nicholas G. Martin from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, is the first ever to document gender differences in treatment-seeking and recovery from pathological gambling. Participants in the study were 4,764 members of the Australian Twin Registry Cohort II sample.

The following is an excerpt from the article, “All in the Family: New Research on the Impact of Having a Parent with Gambling Problems,” which was originally published in the spring 2010 edition of Responsible Gaming Quarterly.

Scientists and clinicians have long speculated that gambling disorders are more prevalent in families with a history of problem gambling behavior. The role that heredity plays in the development of a gambling disorder is important to research focused on the causes of the disorder and to assessment and treatment. Research has started to unravel the genetic versus environmental factors. A University of Minnesota study, “Characteristics of Pathological Gamblers with a Problem Gambling Parent,” recently published in The American Journal on Addiction, is the first attempt to determine whether having a problem gambling parent is associated with any unique clinical features in adults with pathological gambling (PG) (Schreiber, Odlaug, Kim, & Grant, 2009).

A recently published study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors highlights how gambling behavior among college students can be influenced by their own attitudes and intentions toward gambling, as well as their perceptions of the norms for family and friends regarding gambling.

The 2009 report of the Task Force on College Gambling Policies called for more research to help colleges and universities develop evidence-based programs to prevent and reduce gambling problems among students. This newly published study, “Using the theory of planned behavior to predict gambling behavior,” offers a promising approach for developing responsible gaming initiatives targeted at this population.

In December 2009, Dr. Jon Grant of the University of Minnesota Medical School spoke to a human sexuality class about understanding and treating behavioral disorders. This free iTunes podcast of the presentation covers how behavioral addictions, such as pathological gambling, represent significant public health concerns and are associated with high rates of comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders.

A recent study from the Yale Gambling CORE (Center of Research Excellence) published in CNS Spectrums is shedding new light on the relationship between disordered gambling behavior, alcohol-use disorders and other psychiatric disorders. Research has shown that gambling, alcohol and psychiatric disorders tend to co-occur in the same individual (e.g., Kessler et al., 2008); however, few studies have attempted to tease out the associations between these disorders.