GAMBLING DISORDERS 360°

Connecting healthcare providers with the most up-to-date research is essential to quality care. The NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction is one of the vehicles the NCRG uses to help counselors, psychologists, social workers, physicians, nurses and public health professionals learn about the latest research on gambling disorders. In fact, the NCRG conference offers the best educational experience for healthcare providers — as evidenced by the many approvals we have received for the continuing education hours offered by the conference. At this writing, the NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, scheduled for Sept. 25-26, 2016, in Las Vegas, is approved to provide 13.5 continuing education hours by more health care organizations than any other gambling conference. First, we have the institutions that have granted approval of all NCRG educational programs:

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

The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) is pleased to announce the keynote speakers for the annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, scheduled for Sept. 25-26, 2016, in Las Vegas. The keynote addresses will be delivered by three of the leading innovators in the fields of addiction and gambling disorder:

Mark L. Willenbring, MD - Moving Towards 21st Century Addiction Treatment

Dr. Willenbring, the founder and CEO of Alltyr: Transforming Treatment for Addictions and the former director of treatment research at the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is pioneering new ways to conduct addiction treatment. His talk, will focus on overcoming barriers to making scientifically based professional treatment available to the public. Dr. Willenbring was recently profiled in the New York Times.

Did you miss the 2015 NCRG Conference on Gambling Addiction?  No problem! The NCRG Webinar Series is presenting two of the top-ranked speakers in the next two sessions!

Many disordered gamblers started gambling at a young age and that’s why it’s important to address gambling by children and adolescents. On April 7, 2016, Duke University Professor Scott Huettel will present his innovative research in the webinar, “Rethinking Teenage Behavior: New Research on Adolescents’ Risky Choices.”  Dr. Huettel’s investigation reveals that young people are actually more rational in their economic choices than assumed, although still in need of guidance in their decision-making processes. The webinar is scheduled for 2 - 3:30 p.m. EDT. Click here to register for this free webinar.

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.

The NCRG salutes the sponsors of the 2015 conference, held Sept. 27-29, 2015, in Las Vegas in conjunction with Global Gaming Expo. Our top Platinum Sponsors, Las Vegas Sands Corporation and MGM Resorts International, underwrote the two highlights of the conference: respectively, the Poster Session and Reception on Sunday evening and the NCRG Awards Luncheon on Monday.

The NCRG has teamed with Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Drug Free Action Alliance to offer Ohio treatment providers a one-day workshop, Identification and Treatment of Gambling Disorder. Scheduled for Oct. 15, 2015, in Columbus, Ohio, the program will be led by Dr. Jon E. Grant, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at The University of Chicago. Dr. Grant is not only one of the leading researchers on gambling disorder but also is actively involved as a clinician, seeing many disordered gamblers in his practice.

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.

Psychologists, social workers, counselors and other healthcare providers can earn up to 15 continuing education hours at the 16^th Annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction. Scheduled for Sept. 27-29, 2015, in Las Vegas, the NCRG’s conference is approved by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals; the National Council on Problem Gambling, the American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders, the National Association of Social Workers, the Canadian Problem Gambling Certification Board and the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation.