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).