NCRG Debuts Outreach Efforts To Address Youth Gambling Issues
Latest Disordered Gambling Research is Presented in Chicago
Jul 15, 2008
Chicago, Ill.– The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) today announced two new youth education initiatives, including the just-published brochure, “Talking with Children about Gambling,” which offers guidance for parents on how to deter their children from gambling and how they can help them avoid problem gambling and other risky behaviors. In addition, the NCRG’s newly created Task Force on College Gambling Policies is working to develop guidelines for campus policies to help curb under-age gambling activities on college campuses.
The two initiatives are part of the NCRG’s broader mission to expand its public education efforts to a wider audience, including young people. The brochure will be formally launched during Responsible Gaming Education Week, which will take place Aug. 4-8, when it will be distributed to casinos across the country. The Task Force, which held its first meeting on June 24, will hold a series of meetings throughout the coming months and announce final recommendations for a college gambling policy template during spring 2009.
Phil Satre, chairman of the NCRG, discussed these new efforts today at a local breakfast event sponsored by Bensinger, DuPont & Associates, which operates a national problem gambling helpline.
“Research shows that young people are at a higher risk for developing gambling disorders than adults,” Satre said. “About 1 percent of adults have the most severe form of gambling addiction, while anywhere from 2 percent to 7 percent of young people become addicted to gambling.1The NCRG is committed to protecting this vulnerable group through a better understanding of pathological gambling, as well as methods of prevention and treatment.”
Founded in 1996, the NCRG is the only national organization exclusively devoted to funding independent research on pathological and youth gambling, and to finding successful treatment options. The organization is committed to translating research into practical uses that will help individuals avoid gambling-related harms.
The NCRG’s visit to Chicago is part of a two-city public education and awareness campaign designed to share the latest research about disordered gambling and promote responsible gaming among a wider audience, including industry professionals, treatment providers, elected officials, regulators and the general public.
Featured speakers at today’s breakfast event included Satre; Christine Reilly, executive director of the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders; and Dr. Ken Winters, professor of psychiatry at University of Minnesota Medical School.
Throughout its 12-year history, the NCRG has received more than $22 million from gaming companies, equipment manufacturers, vendors and other similar organizations, an unprecedented level of funding from private sources for gambling research.
“Much of what is known about gambling disorders has been published within the past decade, and, during that time, the NCRG led the way for funding in this field. As a board member since the organization’s inception, and today as its chairman, I am very proud of what the NCRG has accomplished,” Satre said. “I look forward to the NCRG’s continued contribution to the growing base of science-based research on disordered gambling, and its continued efforts to explore new ways to turn research into practical education tools.”
For more information on the NCRG go towww.ncrg.org.
1Welte, J.W., Barnes, G.M., Tidwell, M.O., Hoffman, J.H. (2008). The Prevalence of Problem Gambling Among U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults: Results from a National Survey,Journal of Gambling Studies 24(2), 119-133.
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The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) is the only national organization exclusively devoted to funding research that helps increase understanding of pathological and youth gambling and find effective methods of treatment for the disorder. Founded in 1996 as a 501(c)3 charitable organization, the NCRG’s mission is to help individuals and families affected by gambling disorders by supporting the finest peer-reviewed, scientific research into pathological and youth gambling; encouraging the application of new research findings to improve prevention, diagnostic, intervention and treatment strategies; and advancing public education about responsible gaming. The NCRG is the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) affiliated charity.
NCRG funds provide grants to researchers to increase understanding of pathological gambling and find effective methods of treatment for the disorder. The funds are distributed through the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, a program of the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information, visitwww.divisiononaddictions.org/institute.
