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Home » Research Center » ICRG-Funded Research

Project Grants

The ICRG funds research project grants through a competitive, peer-reviewed program. The project grants program allows investigators from research institutions around the world to apply for funding for specific research projects. Since it was launched in 1996, the project grants program has advanced the field of research on gambling disorder. 

Below is a complete list of project grants awarded since 1996, including research summaries and studies produced. Jump to grants by year:

 

 

2020

2019

2018

2013

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2020

Large Grant:  Building the evidence base for pre-commitment oriented play management systems: An examination of uptake, selection of a mandatory (versus voluntary) limit adherence option, and behavior change

Principal Investigator:  Michael J. A. Wohl, PhD, Carleton University

Awarded $171,660 in 2020

Can gambling operators help gamblers cultivate healthy, responsible play habits? The aim of this program of research is to provide an evidence-base for policymakers to make informed decisions about the strengths and weaknesses of responsible gambling programs that are currently being used in their jurisdiction. To this end, we will evaluate the uptake and responsible gambling utility of PlayMyWay,

 

Seed Grant: A Virtual Reality Intervention for Reducing Problematic Gambling in Young Adults

Principal Investigator: Robert Astur, PhD, University of Connecticut

Awarded $34,500 in 2020

The researchers will adapt a novel smoking cessation intervention to reduce problematic gambling among young adults. They hypothesized that the virtual destruction of gambling stimuli will reduce real-life cravings to gamble and real-life gambling compared to the control group.

 

Seed Grant:  The Effects of Casinos on Birth Rates and Infant Health

Principal Investigator: Michael T. Mathes, PhD, Providence College

Awarded $22,039.90 in 2020

The project will examine the effect of casinos on the fertility rate and overall newborn health in counties with casino openings. The researchers will analyze data from birth records from the Restricted-Use Vital Statistics Data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics merged with a unique casino dataset. The result of this work will measure whether there are greater effects on county level birth rates and infant health from employment and increased income opportunities provided by casinos or from the potential to participate in risky behavior.

 

Seed Grant:  An umbrella review of gambling disorder treatment: Taking clinical decision-making to the next level

Principal Investigator: Nicki Dowling, PhD, Deakin University

Awarded $29,897.96 in 2020

The aim of the study is to provide an overall picture of the best international evidence for the treatment of gambling disorder. This will include a summary of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatments, the quality of evidence, and any adverse outcomes of treatments. It will also identify the most effective treatments for different groups of gamblers and highlight significant gaps in the evidence base.

 

 

Seed Grant:     Identifying and Modeling the Schedules of Reinforcement in Live-Odds Betting

Principal Investigator: Simon Dymond, PhD, Swansea University

Awarded $34,455.15 in 2020

The aim of this project is to model the reward and temporal structure of betting behavior by analyzing several large datasets collected from de-centralized anonymous gambling behavior online, existing industry data that are publicly available, and representative datasets collected from online operators and betting shops in the United Kingdom.

 

 

Seed Grant:  A study of gambling severity, depression and suicidal behavior in Sikkim, India

Principal Investigator:  Krishna Vaddiparti, PhD, University of Florida

Awarded $34,500 in 2020

This is a pilot study in Sikkim, India where gambling is legalized. Sikkim is a state in northeast India and it has the second highest suicide rate in India. The study will explore frequency of gambling, types of gambling and their onset, money spent, problematic gambling, gambling disorder, depressed mood and its onset and suicidal ideation and attempts. It will also draft culture-specific standards for responsible gaming to help guide future discussions among stakeholders of land and online gambling, operators, and the general public.

 

 

Dissertation Grant: The effect of social reinforcements on gambling-like behaviors in rats

Principal Investifator:  Elena A. Tiddens, University of Sussex

Awarded $2,000 in 2020

The aim of this dissertation project is to reduce addiction-like behavior in animal models of GD by offering an alternative social reward.

 
 

2019

Seed Grant: “Participatory Design of Interactive Persuasive Gambling Awareness: Enabling Gambling-Centered Innovation”
Principal Investigator: Raian Ali, PhD, Bournemouth University
Awarded $34,488 in 2019
Aim: Make a first utilization of the platform developed via the EROGamb project and provide gambler-led designs and also design principles of interactive, persuasive messages and forms which use gambling data for the purpose of making the gambling experience more in control.

Seed Grant: “Overlapping Neurobiological Mechanisms Contributing to Cue-driven Reward-seeking Behavior and Risky Decision-making”
Principal Investigator: Sara Morrison, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
Awarded $34,500 in 2019
Aim: This rat study will test the hypotheses that sign-tracking (ST) and risky decision-making engage overlapping brain circuitry and that individuals that tend toward ST will be more likely to make high-risk, high-reward choices, even when such choices are maladaptive.

Large Grant: “Developing and Testing a Brief Intervention for Problem Gambling in Credit Counseling”
Principal Investigator: Paul G. Sacco, PhD, University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Awarded $172,450 in 2019
Aim: Test effectiveness of brief intervention with text messaging in reducing gambling behavior and improving financial well being among credit counseling clients.

Seed Grant: “At-Risk Problem Gambling Clinical Comorbidities and Treatment Engagement among Homeless Veterans”
Principal Investigator: Steven D. Shirk, PhD, New England MIRECC
Awarded $34,035 in 2019
Aim: Better understand the clinical profile of homeless veterans and how it relates to problem gambling behavior.

Large Grant: “Don’t Go There: A Geospatial mHealth App for Gambling Disorder”
Principal Investigator: Jeremiah Weinstock, PhD, Saint Louis University
Awarded $172,354 in 2019
Aim: Develop and test efficacy of a novel mHealth app that will capitalize on smartphones’ global positioning software that recognizes a user’s location; in this case, a favorite gambling location.

 

Dissertation Grant: “Characterization of mPFC Subregions in Response Execution and Inhibition”

Principal Investigator: Jessica Caballero, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Awarded $ 2,000 in 2019

Aim: Abnormal control of execution and inhibition of behaviors is a major contributor to problems like gambling and addiction. People that have problems controlling the execution and inhibition of behaviors are often impulsive and constantly seek the reward they are after. The prelimbic (PL) and the infralimbic (IL) subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and their projections to the nucleus accumbens core (NACc) and sell (NACsh) have been strongly implicated in the behavioral execution/inhibition balance. The aims of this animal study are: 1) Determine PL and IL influence over response execution and inhibition; and 2) determine circuitry mediating the execution and inhibition of reward seeking behaviors.

 

 

Dissertation Grant: “Therapeutic Engagement: Can Motivational Messages Engage At-Risk Gamblers in an Online Assessment?”

Principal Investigator: Samuel C. Peter, University of Memphis

Awarded $800 in 2019

Aim: The primary aim of this dissertation is to test whether static or interactive motivationally-based online messages can result in a higher rate of frequent gamblers completing an online gambling disorder screener when compared to a control message inviting gamblers to take the screener. It is hypothesized that individuals randomly assigned to one of the two motivationally-based approaches will be more likely to complete the problem gambling screener compared to those receiving a control message without motivational content.

 

Dissertation Grant: “Is More Better? A Meta-Analysis of Dose and Efficacy in Face-to-Face Psychological Treatments for Gambling Disorder”

Principal Investigator: Rory A. Pfund, University of Memphis

Awarded $395 in 2019

Aim: The specific aim of the proposed study is to determine whether there is a relation between the received dose and therapeutic outcome of face-to-face psychological treatments for gambling disorder. The hypothesis is that there is no relation between the received dose and therapeutic outcome in face-to-face psychological treatments for gambling disorder. That hypothesis will be tested using meta-analysis because it will allow for the quantitative synthesis of results from past studies.

 

Dissertation Grant: “From the Slots to the Bottle: A Mixed Method Study of Addiction Substitution in Gambling Disorder”

Principal Investigator: Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim, University of Calgary

Awarded $2,000 in 2019

Aim: This dissertation aims to examine an understudied, yet important concept known as addiction substitution. Addiction substitution occurs when an individual who recovers from one addiction (e.g., gambling) subsequently increases the use of a secondary addictive behavior (e.g., alcohol). The aim is to address this empirical gap by examining the process of addiction substitution (i.e., how, why) among people who have recovered from gambling.

 

 

Dissertation: “Social Isolation, Drug Use and Gambling Problems in 10-17 Year  Olds”

Principal Investigator: Nathan Smith, University of Florida

Awarded $2,000 in 2019

Aim:  The aim of this analysis is to describe the relationship between social isolation, gambling participation and gambling problems in children aged 10-17. This includes providing data on prevalence rates of gambling participation, age of gambling onset, and prevalence of gambling problems. Finally, the study will attempt to address if gambling disorder behaves more similar to socially encouraged addictive behaviors such as alcohol use or more similar to isolationary addictive behaviors such as opioid misuse.

 

 

2018

Early Stage Investigator Grant: “Reward Neurobiology of Gambling Disorder with and without Comorbid Depression"

 

Principal Investigator:    Susanna L. Fryer, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
 
Awarded $149,500 in 2018
 
Aim: Advance understanding of extent to which functioning of reward circuitry is similar or distinct in gambling disorder with and without co-occurring depression.
 
Seed Grant: “Impulsivity in Adolescent Children with a Family History of Gambling Disorder”

Principal Investigator:  Jatin G. Vaidya, PhD, University of Iowa

Awarded $34,500 in 2018

Aim: Assess distinct aspects of impulsivity in adolescents (12 to 17 years old who have at least one biological parent with a Gambling Disorder).

Seed Grant: “Characterization of Subtypes of Cortical Neurons in Impulsivity”

Principal Investigator:  Susan Marie Ferguson, PhD, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Awarded $34,500 in 2018

Aim: Better understand impulsivity as it contributes to Gambling Disorder through study of rats.

Travel Grant: “Problem-gambling severity, suicidality and DSM-IV Axis I and II psychiatric disorders”

Principal Investigator: Silvia Ronzitti, MD, Yale School of Medicine and VA Connecticut Healthcare System

Awarded $1,500 in 2018

The Travel Grant will support the PI’s participation as a poster presenter at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD).

Travel Grant: “Gambling-related cognitive distortions, psychopathology, and suicide ideation among veterans seeking treatment for problem gambling”

Principal Investigator: Steven D. Shirk, PhD, ENRM VA Hospital/New England MIRECC

Awarded $1,500 in 2018

The Travel Grant will support the PI’s participation as an oral presenter at the International Conference on Behavioral Addictions.

Travel Grant: Estimation of gambling disorder prevalence in high school students from Panama City, Panama

Principal Investigator: Gabriel C. Quintero, PhD, Florida State University - Republic of Panama

Awarded $1,500 in 2018

The Travel Grant will support the PI’s participation as a poster presenter at the annual meeting of the American Psychopathological Association.

2017

Seed Grant: “Increased Gambling-like Behavior after Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury: A Dopamine Reduction Hypothesis”

Principal Investigator:  Cole Vonder Haar, PhD, West Virginia University

Awarded $34,413 in 2017

Aim: Understand the factors that lead to the development of Gambling Disorder after brain injury through a study of the decision-making abilities of brain-injured rats.

Responsible Gaming Association of New Mexico Grant: “Problem Gambling in New Mexico: A Study of at risk Youth and Adults”

Principal Investigator: Martha W. Waller, PhD, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation

Awarded $291,868 in 2017

Aim: Examine gambling behavior among adolescents and adults across New Mexico with specific focus on subpopulations of race/ethnicity, military involvement, parents of minors, sexual minorities, housing unstable, and college students.  Building on existing long-term relationships with prevention communities across the state, the investigators will use a culturally competent, mixed-methods data collection approach to gather data from youth and adults across all regions of the state including rural, frontier, tribal, and urban locations to estimate problem gambling prevalence and statistically model the association with co-occurring risk and protective factors.

Travel Grant: “Altered Reward Processing as a Vulnerability for Gambling Disorder: a functional MRI study in Unaffected Siblings”

Principal Investigator: Eve Limbrick-Oldfield, PhD, University of British Columbia

Awarded $1,500 in 2017

Dr. Limbrick-Oldfield will present a poster and an oral presentation at the 2017 meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. 

Seed Grant: “At‐risk Gambling in Credit Counseling: Prevalence and Feasibility of Brief Intervention”

Principal Investigator: Paul Sacco, PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Awarded $34,500 in 2017

Aims:  (1) To pilot screening for problem gambling in a sample of adults who seek services from a national consumer credit counseling organization; (2) To compare prevalence of at-risk gambling in consumer credit counseling users to national estimates; and (3) To evaluate the perceived acceptability and feasibility of gambling screening from the perspective of credit counselors.

Seed Grant: “ The Role of Recovery Capital and Gender Differences in Recovery from Gambling Disorder - A Mixed Methods Design”

Principal Investigator: Belle Gavriel-Fried, PhD, Tel Aviv University

Awarded $34,500 in 2017

Aims: (1) Examine the applicability of the concept of Recovery Capital to recovery from gambling addiction; and (2) probe gender differences in relation to their recovery and recovery capital. One-hundred and forty individuals who terminated treatment of gambling disorders in the previous 1-5 years will be asked to complete questionnaires including the gambling follow-up scale, the DSM-5 GD, the Assessment of Recovery Capital, and 3 open-ended questions.

 

2016

Seed Grant: “Gambling and Traumatic Stress: Analyses in Veteran and Community Samples”

Principal Investigator:  Joshua B. Grubbs, PhD, Bowling Green State University

Awarded $34,500

Aim: Deepen the knowledge of the co-occurrence of gambling disorder and post-traumatic stress, by specifically examining the dispositional, motivational, and cognitive aspects of the known relationships between the two domains. Using two samples of veterans in a residential treatment program and an online, community sample of gambling adults, the project seeks to examine how symptoms of post-traumatic stress may be related to a tendency toward negative emotion (i.e., trait neuroticism), gambling-related cognitions (i.e., positive expectancies about gambling), and motivation to use gambling to cope with or escape from negative emotion.

Seed Grant: “The Effects of Sensory Reward Cues on Decision Making under Risk in Healthy Volunteers and Problem Gamblers”

Principal Investigator: Mariya Cherkasova, PhD

Awarded $34,500 in 2016

Aim: Understand the effects that sensory reward cues have on risky decision making in both healthy volunteers and disordered gamblers through a laboratory tasks; for example, measuring the impact of cues using eye tracking.

Travel Grant: “Continuous Associations between Delay Discounting and Addictive Behavior: A Meta-Analysis”

Principal Investigator: Michael Amlung, PhD, McMaster University
Awarded $1,500 in 2016

Dr. Amlung will present at the 2016 meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis International on his research finding of strong support for impulsive delay discounting as a core behavioral phenotype of addictive disorders, including gambling disorder.

Travel Grant: “Shared and Unique Neural Structure Features of Substance and Behavioral Addictions"
Principal Investigator: Sarah W. Yip, PhD, Yale School of Medicine
Awarded $1,500 in 2016

Dr. Yip will present at the 2016 meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry on the findings of a brain imaging study that sought to confirm the hypothesis that there are structural similarities between behavioral and substance addictions.

Seed Grant: “Cortical and Subcortical Contributions to Risky Decision-Making Associated with Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Mike Robinson, Ph.D., Wesleyan University
Awarded $34,500 in 2016

Aim: Understand the contribution of two cortical regions (the orbitofrontal cortex and the anterior insula cortex) and one subcortical limbic region (the nucleus accumbens) to the process of choosing between safe and risky options.

Seed Grant: “Diurnal cortisol dynamics and gambling disorder”
Principal Investigator: Tony Buchanan, PhD, Saint Louis University
Awarded $34,500 in 2016

Aim: Characterize the relation between stress physiology and reward/punishment sensitivity through assessment of the daily pattern of cortisol secretion as well as monetary reward/punishment decisions in 25 persons with gambling disorder and a 25-person comparison group.

Seed Grant: “Problem Gambling among Asian/Asian-American College Students”
Principal Investigator: Dipali Venkataraman Rinker, PhD, University of Houston
Awarded $34,500 in 2016

Aim: Investigate gambling beliefs, patterns, family history and attitudes among Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese, Filipino and Pakistani students.

2015

Large Grant: “Adaptation and Feasibility Testing of a Gambling-Specific SBIRT Intervention in the 'Real World' Clinical Setting”
Principal Investigator: Seth Himelhoch, PhD, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Awarded $172,500 in 2015

Aim: Develop and test a problem gambling-specific Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) intervention targeting individuals receiving medical care in general primary care clinics in order to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of inserting a problem gambling intervention into preexisting substance use SBIRT services being provided in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the state.

Seed Grant: “Consequences of Gambling and Polysubstance Use Behavior Patterns”
Principal Investigator: Bethany Bray, PhD, Pennsylvania State University
Awarded $34,000 in 2015

Aim: Understand how adolescent behavioral patterns of gambling and polysubstance use are linked to adulthood negative consequences using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health.

Seed Grant:  “Neurochemistry of Cognitive Control in Gambling Vulnerability”
Principal Investigator: Simon Dymond, PhD, Swansea University
Awarded $34,457 in 2015

Aim: Investigate whether individual differences in γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter, predict the extent to which someone is likely to be able to control their gambling and other forms of risk taking through a study of gamblers and non-gamblers. the findings will contribute to a better understanding of the neurochemistry of individual susceptibility to gambling problems, which may help inform the development of novel early intervention approaches for addictive behaviors like gambling disorders.

2014

Travel Grant: “Effects of Mixed-Function Serotonergic Compounds in a Novel Rodent Cost/Benefit Decision-Making Task”
Principal Investigator: Amanda Persons, PhD, Rush University Medical Center
Awarded $1,294 in 2014

The Travel Grant supported Dr. Person’s participation in the poster session at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Her study tested the impact of a serotonergic medication on decision making, using a novel rat model of cost/benefit decision making.

Travel Grant: “Rapid Intermittent Deep Brain Stimulation Biases Behavior in a Financial Decision-making Task”
Principal Investigator: Shaun Patel, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Awarded $1,500 in 2014

The Travel Grant supported Dr. Patel’s participation in the poster session at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, where he presented on a study of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation while engaged in a financial decision-making task.

Post-doctoral Individual Fellowship Grant: “On the Usefulness of Training Motor Response Inhibition Under Craving States in Individuals with Gambling Disorder”
Principal Investigator: Damien Brevers, PhD, University of Southern California
Awarded $169,861 in 2014

Aim: Understand the interactions between inhibition control, impulsivity and craving processes in addiction at a behavioral and neurobiological level.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Brevers, D., Noël, X., He, Q., Melrose, J. A., & Bechara, A. (2015). Increased ventral-striatal activity during monetary decision making is a marker of problem poker gambling severity. Addiction Biology. http://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12239

Seed Grant: “Assessing Risk-preference and Compulsive Behavior in a Rodent Gambling Task”
Principal Investigator: Jamie Donahey Roitman, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago
Awarded $34,500 in 2014

Aim: Devise an animal model of disordered gambling to understand the extent to which risky decision-making processes are innate or altered by experience; how different patterns of neural activity drive behavior toward risk-seeking or avoidance; and how therapeutic methods can alter neural activity to reduce disordered gambling behavior.

Seed Grant: “Risk and Resilience among Native American Youth in the Pacific Northwest”
Principal Investigator: Debi A. LaPlante, PhD, Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance
Awarded $34,447 in 2014

Aim: Better understand risk and resilience factors among Native American youth who will be assessed at regular community events, in partnership with the Healing Lodge of Seven Nations.

Seed Grant: “Discontinuity and Change Among Disordered Gamblers"
Principal Investigator: Michael J.A. Wohl, PhD, Carleton University
Awarded $27,772 in 2014

Aim: Determine what factors influence a person's readiness to change behavior and receive help for a gambling disorder.

Large Grant: “Personality Traits, Affective Context and Pathological Gambling: An Experience Sampling Approach”
Principal Investigator: Donald R. Lynam, PhD, Purdue University
Awarded $172,037 in 2014

Aim: Develop a model to understand the intersecting factors of affect and impulse control traits on the development of a gambling disorder in order to allow for tailored interventions for disordered gamblers.

Large Grant: “Modifying the Automatic Approach Bias toward Gambling Stimuli in Problem Gamblers: A Novel Intervention for Changing Excessive Gambling Behavior”
Principal Investigator: Sherry H. Stewart, PhD, Dalhousie University
Awarded $172,500 in 2014

Aim: Understand the implicit thought patterns that could play a role in the development of a gambling disorder, by exploring whether or not disordered gamblers have an "approach bias" (i.e. the automatic tendency to approach or conduct a risky-behavior rather than avoid it).

Large Grant: “Biobehavioral Assessment and Validation of Animal Phenotype of Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Martin Zack, PhD, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Awarded $101,200 in 2014

Aim: Develop an animal model that accurately reflects the brain and behavioral profile of disordered gambling in order to test medications to treat the specific needs of people with a gambling disorder.

Large Grant: “Evaluation and Implementation of Personalized Normative Feedback for CollegeGambling.org”
Principal Investigator: Clayton Neighbors, PhD, University of Houston
Awarded $233,570 in 2014

Aim: Evaluate the efficacy of the first-ever online screen/brief intervention for gambling among college and university students, BetOnU, hosted by the NCRG's website, CollegeGambling.org, in a nationwide sample.

2013

Travel Grant: "Gambling and the Onset of Comorbid Mental Disorders: A Longitudinal Study Evaluating Severity and Specific Symptoms"
Principal Investigator: Iman Parhami, MD, MPH, Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Awarded $1,500 in 2013

The Travel Grant supported Dr. Parhami’s participation in the annual meeting of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry where he gave a presentation on a study of the gambling data in the NESARC (National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions).

Travel Grant: “Do Pathological Gamblers Suffer from a Distorted Sensitivity to Reward?”
Principal Investigator: Guillaume Sescousse, PhD, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, the Netherlands
Awarded $1,500 in 2013

The Travel Grant supported Dr. Sescousee’s participation as a speaker at the 2013 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. His research suggests a distorted sensitivity to reward in disordered gamblers. From a clinical perspective, the findings suggest that enhancing the prominence of non-monetary rewards may be a fruitful strategy as part of a therapeutic approach.

Travel Grant: “The Atypical Antidepressant Mirtazapine Attenuates Gambling-like Behavior in Rodents”
Principal Investigator: Amanda Persons, PhD, Rush University Medical Center
Awarded $1,500 in 2013

The Travel Grant supported Dr. Person’s participation in the poster session at the 2013 meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD). She reported on research, funded by the NCRG, revealing that mirtazapine, an atypical antidepressant, reduced risk-taking behavior in rats.

Seed Grant:“How Skill Affects Gambler Responses to Wins and Losses”
Principal Investigator: Kyle Siler, PhD, McMaster University
Awarded $27,536.75 in 2013

Aim: Investigate whether more skilled online poker players will exhibit greater emotional control and strategic consistency following large wins and losses than their less skilled counterparts, whether lucky or unlucky.

Seed Grant: “An Animal Model of Relapse to Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: David Kearns, PhD, American University
Awarded $28,750 in 2013

Aim: Develop an animal model in which potential precipitators of relapse can be investigated. The animal model of relapse will not only provide information about the causes, but it will also set the stage for future research that tests behavioral and pharmacological interventions designed to prevent relapse.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Connolly N.P, Kim, J.S, Tunstall, B.J., & Kearns, D.N. (2015). A test of stress, cues, and re-exposure to large wins as potential reinstaters of suboptimal decision making in rats. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 394. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00394

Seed Grant: “The Effects of PTSD on Risky Decision-Making”
Principal Investigator: Caitlin A. Orsini, PhD, University of Florida
Awarded $28,750 in 2013

Aim: Determine whether elevated risk-taking is a pre-disposing factor to developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms following trauma using a rat model.

Early Stage Investigator Grant: “Developing a Mouse Model of Pathological Gambling using an Inducible and Tissue-specific Serotonin 1B Receptor Knock-out”
Principal Investigator: Katherine Nautiyal, PhD, Columbia University and Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc.
Awarded $147,706 in 2013

Aim: Determine the role played by the serotonin 1B receptor in the development of impulsive behavior through a mouse gambling behavioral model.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Nautiyal, K.M., Tanaka, K.F., Barr, M.M., Tritschler, L., Le Dantec, Y., David, D.J., Gardier, A.M.,  Blanco, C., Hen, R., & Ahmari, S.E.(2015). Distinct Circuits Underlie the Effects of 5-HT1B Receptors on Aggression and Impulsivity, Neuron 86 (3), 813-826. htttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.03.041.

Nautiyal, K., Wang, S., Wall, M., Ahmari, S., Balsam, P., Blanco, C., & Hen, R. (2015). Biological and Behavioral Dissection of the Role of the Serotonin 1B Receptor in Impulsivity. Neuropsychopharmacology, 40, pp. S305-S305

Large Grant: “Efficacy of a Brief Motivational Intervention Delivered via Smartphone and Short Messaging Service”
Principal Investigator: Matthew Martens, PhD, University of Missouri, Columbia
Awarded $171,350 in 2013

Aim: Test the efficacy of a novel Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) designed to reduce gambling among college students and delivered via smartphone devices (i.e., cell phones with comprehensive web applications) and Short Messaging Service (SMS) technology.

Large Grant: “Social Influences on the Development of Risky Choice”
Principal Investigator: Scott A. Huettel, PhD, Duke University
Awarded $172,358 in 2013

Aim: Test the hypothesis that (a) that social context acts to amplify value signals associated with positive reward during risky decision making, and (b) that this amplifying effect is greater in adolescents.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Kwak, Y., Payne, J. W., Cohen, A. L., & Huettel, S. A. (2015). The rational adolescent: Strategic information processing during decision making revealed by eye tracking. Cognitive Development, 36, 20-30.

Large Grant: “Neural Correlates of Impulsivity and their Modulation by Dopamine in Problem/Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Andrew Kayser, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Awarded $172,500 in 2013

Aim: Evaluate a novel translational (and potentially therapeutic) approach for gambling disorder: inhibitors of the dopamine-degrading enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Several COMT-inhibitor drugs are already FDA-approved, and can be readily tested in human subjects.

Large Grant: Characterization of Pathological Gambling as an Addictive Disorder
Principal Investigator: Jeremiah Weinstock, PhD, Saint Louis University
Awarded $168,824 in 2013

Aim: Examine the conceptualization of pathological gambling as an addiction and elucidate common etiological factors and pathways to addiction.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Rash, C., Weinstock, J., & Van Patten, R. (2016). A review of gambling disorder and substance use disorders. Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, 7, 3-13.

2012

Seed Grant: “Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Problem Gambling”

Principal Investigator: Katie Witkiewitz, PhD, University of New Mexico
Awarded $28,129 in 2012

Aim: Conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of MBRP in the treatment of problem gambling.

Seed Grant: “Sequential Decision Making and Illusionary Pattern Detection in Gamblers”
Principal Investigator: Andreas Wilke, PhD, Clarkson University
Awarded $28,675 in 2012

Aim: Determine if subjects that have a greater tendency to perceive illusory patterns also have a higher tendency to gamble. If so, this will reveal an important aspect of gambling behavior that may lead to new screening tools for gambling risk.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Wilke, A., Scheibehenne, B., Gaissmaier, W., McCaney, P., & Barrett, H. C. (2014). Illusionary pattern detection in habitual gamblers. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35, 291–297.

Gaissmaier, W., Wilke, A., Scheibehenne, B., McCanney, P., & Barrett, H. C. (2015). Betting on illusory patterns: Probability matching in habitual gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 32 (1),143-156

Seed Grant: “A Benchmark Study for Monitoring Exposure to New Gambling Opportunities”
Principal Investigator: Sarah E. Nelson, PhD, Cambridge Health Alliance
Awarded $28,750 in 2012

Aim: Establish a baseline estimate of gambling behaviors and health within Massachusetts communities that can be used as the benchmark for a future long-term longitudinal investigation of the effect of gambling expansion on public health.

Early Stage Investigator Grant: “Stress Reactivity and Risk-taking Behavior in Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Iris Balodis, PhD,  Yale University School of Medicine
Awarded $64,797 in 2012

Aim: Better understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the stress response and engagement in risky behaviors in populations with gambling disorder.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Balodis, I.M., & Potenza, M.N. (2015). Anticipatory reward processing in addicted populations: a focus on the monetary incentive delay task. Biological Psychiatry, 77(5), 434-444.

Early Stage Investigator Grant: “Expanding the Study of Actual Internet Gambling Behavior: Exposure and Adaptation within a Newly Opened Market”
Principal Investigator: Heather Gray, PhD, Cambridge Health Alliance
Awarded $141,362 in 2012

Aim: Use the actual online gambling transactions to describe the gambling behavior of the most active and “high risk” gamblers and to examine gamblers' adaptation to new gambling opportunities.

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Gray, H. M., Jónsson, G. K., LaPlante, D. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2015). Expanding the study of internet gambling behavior: Trends within the Icelandic lottery and sportsbetting platform. Journal of Gambling Studies, 31(2), 483-499.

Large Grant: “Web-based Screening and Brief Intervention for Disordered Gambling Among Emerging Adults”
Principal Investigator: Mary Larimer, PhD, University of Washington
Awarded $172,500 in 2012

Aim: Test a brief intervention for gambling with emerging adults (ages 18-25) recruited through social media.

Large Grant: “Evaluating the Potential of Mixed-Function Serotonergic Compounds for Treatment of Gambling Disorders”
Principal Investigator: T. Celeste Napier, PhD, Rush University Medical Center
Awarded $172,500 in 2012

Aim: Expedite the discovery and development of effective treatment strategies for gambling disorder by using a unique rat models to determine if medications used for other diseases can be repurposed for the treatment of gambling disorders.

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Rokosik, S. L., & Napier, T. C. (2012). Pramipexole-induced increased probabilistic discounting: comparison between a rodent model of Parkinson's disease and controls. Neuropsychopharmacology, 37(6), 1397-1408.

Tedford, S.E., Holtz, N.A., Persons, A.L., & Napier, T.C. (2014). A new approach to assess gambling-like behavior in laboratory rats: using intracranial self-stimulation as a positive reinforcer. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8.

Early Stage Investigator Grant: “The Peer Group Regulates Motivational Pathways to Gambling in Youth: Implications for Early Intervention”
Principal Investigator: Jennifer L. Tackett, PhD, University of Houston
Awarded: $64,800 in 2012

Aim: Investigate the extent to which dispositional traits (i.e. Extraversion and Neuroticism) and motivational pathways (i.e. approach and avoidance motivations) predict distinct pathways to youth gambling.

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Tackett, J. L., Rodriguez, L. M., Rinker, D. V., & Neighbors, C. (2015). A personality-based latent class analysis of emerging adult gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 31(4), 1337-1351.

Travel Grant: “Creating Change: A Past-Focused Model for PTSD and Addictions”
Principal Investigator: Joni Utley, Psy.D, VA Boston Healthcare System, VA Bedford/ Boston University School of Medicine
Awarded $ 1,500 in 2012

The Travel Grant supported Dr. Utley’s participation in the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies conference where she presented a paper on Creating Change (CC), a new past-focused behavioral therapy model developed for comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addictions, including gambling disorder.

2011

Seed Grant: "Mirtazapine as a Pharmacological Intervention for Reducing Risk-Taking Behavior"
Principal Investigator: T. Celeste Napier, PhD, Rush University Medical Center
Awarded $28,750 in 2011

Aim: Identify the potential for repurposing the atypical antidepressant, mirtazapine, as a pharmacological intervention for reducing risk-behavior and/or relapse prevention of gambling disorders.

Seed Grant: "Evaluating and Treating the Near-Miss Magnitude Effect in Underage Pathological Gambling"
Principal Investigator: Mark R. Dixon, PhD, Southern Illinois University
Awarded $34,500 in 2011

Aim: Test the hypothesis that exposure to “near-misses” that resemble large jackpot wins will produce greater activity in the dopamine reward system than near-misses that resemble small jackpot wins in an fMRI scanner; and evaluate the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for reducing and altering disordered gambling behavior.

​Large Grant: "Social Network Analysis of Pathological Gambling"
Principal Investigator: Adam Goodie, PhD, University of Georgia
Awarded $172,487 in 2011

Aim: Use a social network analysis to investigate the role of a gambler's social network in his or her gambling-related pathology.

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Fortune, E. E., MacKillop, J., Miller, J. D., Campbell, W. K., Clifton, A. D., & Goodie, A. S. (2013). Social density of gambling and its association with gambling problems: An initial investigation. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29(2), 329-342.

Goodie, A.S., James MacKillop, Miller, J.D., Fortune, E.E., Maples, J., E. Lance, C.E., & Campbell, W.K. (2013). Evaluating the South Oaks Gambling Screen With DSM-IV and DSM-5 Criteria: Results From a Diverse Community Sample of Gamblers. Assessment, 20, 523-53.

Meisel, M. K., Clifton, A. D., MacKillop, J., Miller, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Goodie, A. S. (2013). Egocentric social network analysis of pathological gambling. Addiction, 108(3), 584-591.

Meisel, M. K., & Goodie, A. S. (2014). Descriptive and injunctive social norms’ interactive role in gambling behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28(2), 592.

​Large Grant: "Assessing the Contribution of Reinforcement-learning Deficits in Pathological Gamblers"
Principal Investigator: John O’Doherty, PhD, California Institute of Technology
Awarded $172,500 in 2011

Aim: Study patterns of neural activity while disordered gamblers – and a comparison group of recreational gamblers – perform simple tasks in which they learn to make choices in order to obtain monetary gains and avoid losses with hopes of learning what neurological factors are involved in responses to rewarding and punishing events among people with gambling problems.

Special Initiative: "A Randomized Controlled Trial of Personalized Normative Feedback for Problem Gambling College Students"
Principal Investigator: Clayton Neighbors, PhD, University of Houston
Awarded $171,561 in 2011

Aim: Develop and test an online screening and brief intervention (SBI) aimed at reducing gambling-related problems among college students using Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF), an approach successfully employed to reduce rates of drinking on campus by showing students their misperceptions of student drinking behavior.

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Foster, D. W., Neighbors, C., Rodriguez, L. M., Lazorwitz, B., & Gonzales, R. (2014). Self-identification as a moderator of the relationship between gambling-related perceived norms and gambling behavior. Journal of Gambling Studies, 30(1), 125-140.

Neighbors, C., Rodriguez, L. M., Rinker, D. V., Gonzales, R. G., Agana, M., Tackett, J. L., & Foster, D. W. (2015). Efficacy of personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for college student gambling: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(3), 500.

Rinker, D. V., Rodriguez, L. M., Krieger, H., Tackett, J. L., & Neighbors, C. (2015). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Problem Gambling among College Students. Journal of Gambling Studies, 1-10.

2010

Exploration Grant: “A Virtual internet Gambling Paradigm and Default-mode Brain Functioning in Pathological Gamblers Assessed by Resting-state fMRI”
Primary Investigator: Yijun Liu, PhD, University of Florida
Awarded $5,400 in 2010

Aim: Understand the neural pathways involved in excessive gambling and discern what is unique about the online gaming experience for people with gambling-related problems.

Seed Grant: “Patterns of Information Processing in Risky Decision Making”
Principal Investigator: Scott Huettel, PhD, Duke University
Awarded $34,500 in 2010

Aim: Test the hypothesis that whether someone makes a risky or safe choice depends not simply on preferences, but on the strategies they use to acquire and integrate new information.

Large Grant: “Efficacy of a Personalized Feedback Intervention at Reducing Gambling Behaviors among College Students”
Principal Investigator: Matthew P. Martens, PhD, University of Missouri, Columbia
Awarded $172,500 in 2010

Aim: Test a personalized feedback-only intervention that will provide “at-risk” college students with information about their own behavior. The goal is to determine if college students receiving personalized feedback will report less gambling, fewer dollars gambled and less problem gambling than students in the education/advice and assessment-only control conditions.

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Arterberry, B. J., Martens, M. P., & Takamatsu, S. K. (2015). Development and validation of the gambling problems scale. Journal of Gambling Issues, 30, 124–139. http://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2015.30.5

Martens, M.P., Arterberry, B.J., Takamatsu, S.K., Masters, J., & Dude, K. (2015). The efficacy of a personalized feedback-only intervention for at-risk college gamblers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(3), 494-499. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038843

Takamatsu, S. K., Martens, M. P., & Arterberry, B. J. (2015). Depressive symptoms and gambling behavior: Mediating role of coping motivation and gambling refusal self-efficacy. Journal of Gambling Studies. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-015-9562-x

Large Grant: ”Determinants of Gambling: Distinguishing between Disordered and Recreational Gambling"
Principal Investigator: John Nyman, PhD, University of Minnesota
Awarded $136,449 in 2010

Aim: Understand the differentiating factors between recreational gamblers with no gambling-related problems and pathological gamblers to determine when a recreational gambler becomes a problem gambler.

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Nyman, J.A., Dowd, B.E., Hakes, J.K., Winters, K.C., & King, S. (2013). Work and Non-Pathological Gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29 (1), 61-81.

2009

Large Grant: “Motivational Pathways to Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Adam Goodie, PhD, University of Georgia
Awarded $172,233 in 2009

Aim: Determine if certain personality types have a direct, causal link to pathological gambling in order to inform prevention and treatment for different kinds of disordered gamblers.

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Fortune, E. E., & Goodie, A. S. (2010). Comparing the utility of a modified Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity (DIGS) with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) as a research screen in college students. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(4), 639–644. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-010-9189-x

Fortune, E. E., & Goodie, A. S. (2010). The relationship between pathological gambling and sensation seeking: The role of subscale scores. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(3), 331–346. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9162-8

Fortune, E.E., & Goodie, A.S. (2012). Cognitive distortions as a component and treatment focus of pathological gambling: A review. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26(2), 298-310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026422

Goodie, A.S., & Fortune, E.E. (2013). Measuring cognitive distortions in pathological gambling: Review and meta-analyses. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(3), 730-743. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0031892

MacKillop, J., Miller, J. D., Fortune, E., Maples, J., Lance, C. E., Campbell, W. K., & Goodie, A. S. (2014). Multidimensional examination of impulsivity in relation to disordered gambling. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 22(2), 176-185.

New Investigator Grant: “Gambling Behaviors Among Youth: A Developmental Behavioral Genetic Perspective”
Principal Investigator: Serena M. King, Ph.D., L.P., Hamline University
Awarded $57,318 in 2009

Aim: Understand the roles that behavioral problems, genes and environment play in gambling behaviors from adolescence to young adulthood.

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King, S. M., Abrams, K., & Wilkinson, T. (2010). Personality, gender, and family history in the prediction of college gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(3), 347-359.

2006

“Alcohol and Gambling Types: Motivation and Cue Reactivity”
Principal Investigator: Edward Gottheil, MD, Ph.D., University of Washington
Awarded $172,500 in 2006

Aim: Understand the relationships between gambling experience and arousal (self-reported and electrodermal) in response to specific types of gambling-related visual cues (machine, cards, sports betting).

“An Analysis of Pathological Gambling in the National Comorbidity Replication Survey”
Principal Investigator: Ron Kessler, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
Awarded $115,000 in 2006

Aim: Analyze the gambling data collected for the 2001-2003 version of the National Comorbidity Replication Survey, the landmark study of mental health among 9,000 households in the U.S., funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Kessler, R. C., Hwang, I., LaBrie, R., Petukhova, M., Sampson, N. A., Winters, K. C., & Shaffer, H. J. (2008). DSM-IV pathological gambling in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Psychological Medicine, 38(9), 1351–60. http://doi.org/S0033291708002900 [pii] 10.1017/S0033291708002900

“The Cognitive Neuroscience of Control and Decision-Making in Problem Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Brett A. Clementz, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Awarded $167,088 in 2006

Aim: Investigate differences between problem and non-problem gamblers concerning the spatial and temporal patterns of brain functioning that support decision-making.

“Dopaminergic Neurotransmission and Cognitive Bias in Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Jakob Linnet, Ph.D., Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
Awarded $149,185 in 2006

Aim: Test the hypothesis that pathological gamblers have a lower dopamine concentration and a higher dopamine release during gambling compared with healthy controls; that other factors, such as personality traits such as sensation seeking, influence the dopamine release during gambling; and, that dopamine binding potential and occupancy are associated (directly or indirectly) with cognitive bias of gambling performance.

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Linnet, J., Peterson, E., Daudet, D.J., Gjedde, A., & Moller, A. (2010). Dopamine release in ventral striatum of pathological gamblers losing money. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 122, 326-333.

Linnet, J., Møller, A., Peterson, E., Gjedde, A., & Doudet, D. (2011). Dopamine release in ventral striatum during Iowa Gambling Task performance is associated with increased excitement levels in pathological gambling. Addiction, 106(2), 383-390.

New Investigator Grant: “Gambling Patterns and Problems: A Longitudinal Study of Change in Gambling Patterns in a College Student Sample”
Principal Investigator: Anna E. Goudriaan, Ph.D., University of Amsterdam
Awarded $57,436 in 2006

Aim: Analyze gambling patterns, changes over time in gambling patterns, at-risk gambling and gambling problems in sample of 2,470 college students, thus filling the need for longitudinal studies on sub-clinical gambling problems.

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Goudriaan, A. E., Grekin, E. R., & Sher, K. J. (2007). Decision making and binge drinking: a longitudinal study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 31(6), 928–38. http://doi.org/ACER378 [pii] 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2007.00378.x

Goudriaan, A. E., Slutske, W. S., Krull, J. L., & Sher, K. J. (2009). Longitudinal patterns of gambling activities and associated risk factors in college students. Addiction, 104(7), 1219–1232. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02573.x

New Investigator Grant: “Individual Differences in the Propensity to Approach Signals vs. Goals: Relevance to Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Shelly B. Flagel, Ph.D., Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan
Awarded $56,197 in 2006

Aim: Create a viable model of pathological gambling that addresses both the impulsivity and risk-taking dimensions of the disorder.

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Flagel, S. B., Robinson, T. E., Clark, J. J., Clinton, S. M., Watson, S. J., Seeman, P., & Akil, H. (2010). An Animal Model of Genetic Vulnerability to Behavioral Disinhibition and Responsiveness to Reward-Related Cues: Implications for Addiction. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(2), 388–400. http://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2009.142

Flagel, S. B., Akil, H., & Robinson, T. E. (2009). Individual differences in the attribution of incentive salience to reward-related cues: Implications for addiction. Neuropharmacology, 56, 139-148.

“Neuropsychological Correlates of Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Donald W. Black, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa
Awarded $172,500 in 2006

Aim: Test the hypothesis that persons with a gambling disorder will perform more poorly on measures of executive function (e.g., decision-making), attention and impulsivity, but that general intelligence and memory will not differ.

New Investigator Grant: “A Novel Approach for Investigating the Neurobiological Basis of Gambling Using a Rodent Analogue of the Iowa Gambling Task”
Principal Investigator: Catharine A. Winstanley, Ph.D., University of British Columbia
Awarded $57,500 in 2006

Aim: Develop and test a novel model of gambling behavior in rats based on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to determine if the rat IGT (RIGT) is a valid model of gambling behavior and whether damage to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) increases risky decision-making in keeping with data from human studies.

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Zeeb, F.D., Robbins, T.W., & Winstanley, C.A. (2009). Serotonergic and dopaminergic modulation of gambling behavior as assessed using a novel rat gambling task. Neuropsychopharmacology, 34, 2329–2343; doi:10.1038/npp.2009.62

Zeeb, F. D., Floresco, S. B., & Winstanley, C. A. (2010). Contributions of the orbitofrontal cortex to impulsive choice: interactions with basal levels of impulsivity, dopamine signalling, and reward-related cues. Psychopharmacology, 211(1), 87-98.

“A Survey of the Pathological Gambling Treatment Workforce”
Principal Investigator: Anne Helene Skinstad, Ph.D., University of Iowa, The Prairielands Addiction Technology Transfer Center
Awarded $168,941 in 2006

Aim: Address the dearth of knowledge about the professional workforce charged with preventing and treating problem gambling through a survey that will help form a strategy for the design and development of an evidence-based curriculum for delivery to gambling treatment professionals.

2004

“Behavioral Couples Therapy for Pathological Gamblers”
Principal Investigator: Robert G. Rychtarik, Ph.D., The Research Foundation of SUNY on behalf of the University at Buffalo/Research Institute on Addictions
Awarded $57,500 in 2004

Aim: Test the efficacy of Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT), a spouse-involved treatment shown to be effective for other addictions, for gambling disorder.

Guided Self-Change for Treating Problematic Co-morbid Gambling and Alcohol Problems Among College Students
Principal Investigator: James P. Whelan, Ph.D., University of Memphis
Awarded $57,384 in 2004

Aim: Test the efficacy of treating college students who both drink and gamble to excess with a treatment that is a modification of Guided Self-Change intervention, one of the most well supported brief treatments for alcohol and other substance abuse problems.

“Laboratory-based Assessment of Impulsivity in Pathological Gamblers Entering Treatment”
Principal Investigator: Nancy Petry, Ph.D., University of Connecticut Health Center
Awarded $56,383 in 2004

Aim: Test the hypothesis that scores on some measures of impulsivity will be associated with gambling problems, co-occurring substance abuse and poorer gambling treatment outcomes.

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Ledgerwood, D. M., Alessi, S. M., Phoenix, N., & Petry, N. M. (2009). Behavioral assessment of impulsivity in pathological gamblers with and without substance use disorder histories versus healthy controls. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 105(1-2), 89–96.

Ledgerwood, D. M., & Petry, N. M. (2010). Subtyping pathological gamblers based on impulsivity, depression, and anxiety. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 24(4), 680–688. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0019906

New Investigator Grant: “Prevalence of Gambling Disorders: Association with Drug Use and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Adolescents Living in Baltimore”
Principal Investigator: Silvia Martins, MD, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Awarded $23,000 in 2004

Aim: Understand the gambling habits, gambling problems and comorbid psychiatric problems in a sample of 15-16 year old youth (90% African American) from Baltimore city. This grant enabled the PI to secure funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Development to continue the study.

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Martins, S. S., Storr, C. L., Ialongo, N. S., & Chilcoat, H. D. (2008). Gender differences in mental health characteristics and gambling among African-American adolescent gamblers. American Journal on Addictions, 17(2), 126–34. http://doi.org/791991387 [pii] 10.1080/10550490701861227

Martins, S. S., Storr, C. L., Ialongo, N. S., & Chilcoat, H. D. (2007). Mental health and gambling in urban female adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(5), 463–5. http://doi.org/S1054-139X(06)00598-2 [pii] 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.12.008

2003

“Dopamine Release in Response to Monetary Reward Measured with Positron Emission Tomography”
Principal Investigator: Alain Dagher, MD, McGill University
Awarded $156,634 in 2003

Aim: Examine whether reduced dopamine levels is a marker for vulnerability to gambling addiction. The hypothesis is that compared to controls, pathological gamblers will show elevated dopamine release correlates with novelty-seeking personality type, cortisol levels and autonomic and mood measures.

“Functional MRI of Decision-Making in Substance Abuse and Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Jody Tanabe, MD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Awarded $172,500 in 2003

Aim: Test hypothesis that defects in ventral medial frontal processing lead to impaired decisions that involve risk.

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Tanabe, J., Thompson, L., Claus, E., Dalwani, M., Hutchison, K., & Banich, M. T. (2007). Prefrontal cortex activity is reduced in gambling and nongambling substance users during decision-making. Human Brain Mapping, 28(12), 1276–86. http://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20344

Tanabe, J., Tregellas, J. R., Thompson, L., Dalwani, M., Owens, E., Crowley, T., & Banich, M. (2009). Medial orbitofrontal cortex gray matter is reduced in abstinent substance dependent individuals. Biological Psychiatry, 65(2), 160–164. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.07.030

“Rules, Rewards, and Decisions in the Orbital Prefrontal Cortex”
Principal Investigator: Charan Ranganath, Ph.D., University of California-Davis
Awarded $170,291 in 2003

Aim: Test hypothesis that low extraversion scores and reduced dopamine levels predispose some to develop a gambling problem.

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Cohen, M. X., & Ranganath, C. (2005). Behavioral and neural predictors of upcoming decisions. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 5(2), 117–26.

Cohen, M. X., Young, J., Baek, J. M., Kessler, C., & Ranganath, C. (2005). Individual differences in extraversion and dopamine genetics predict neural reward responses. Cognitive Brain Research, 25(3), 851–861. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.09.018

Ranganath, C., & Blumenfeld, R. S. (2005). Doubts about double dissociations between short- and long-term memory. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9(8), 374–80. http://doi.org/S1364-6613(05)00181-6

Ranganath, C. (2006). Working memory for visual objects: complementary roles of inferior temporal, medial temporal, and prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience, 139(1), 277–89. http://doi.org/S0306-4522(05)00730-X [pii] 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2005.06.092

Ranganath, C., Cohen, M. X., & Brozinsky, C. J. (2005). Working memory maintenance contributes to long-term memory formation: neural and behavioral evidence. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(7), 994–1010. http://doi.org/10.1162/0898929054475118

2001

“A Cross-Sectional Study of the Impact of Gambling on Patients with Schizophrenia"
Principal Investigator: Rani Desai, Ph.D., Yale School of Medicine
Awarded $172,477 in 2001

Aim:  Assess the prevalence and types of gambling and related behaviors and problems in patients with schizophrenia and the influence of a co-occurring diagnosis with a substance use disorder on gambling behaviors.

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Desai, R. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2009). A cross-sectional study of problem and pathological gambling in patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 70(9), 1250-1267. http://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.08m04359

“Gambling Among Elderly Individuals: Prevalence and Risk Factors”
Principal Investigator: Edward Federman, Ph.D., Boston University
Awarded $160,639 in 2001

Aim: investigate whether mild cognitive impairment or limited social support increases the probability that individuals who attend senior centers will participate in gambling trips and, within that group, whether those factors increase the probability of developing gambling problems.

“A Population-Based Twin Study of Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Kenneth Kendler, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University
Awarded $172,500 in 2001

Aim: Assess gambling problems in a registry of 7,500 adult male and female twins in order to elucidate the heritability of pathological gambling, clarifying its relationship with milder forms of problem gambling, and determining the genetic and environmental relationship between pathological gambling and major psychiatric disorders and personality traits.

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Blanco, C., Myers, J., & Kendler, K. S. (2012). Gambling, disordered gambling and their association with major depression and substance use: a web-based cohort and twin-sibling study. Psychological Medicine, 42(3), 497–508. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291711001401

“Reliability and Validity of an Integrated Gambling Assessment and Treatment Outcome Monitoring System (GAMTOMS)”
Principal Investigator: Randy Stinchfield, Ph.D., University of Minnesota Medical School
Awarded $172,294 in 2001

Aim: Develop and test first instrument for measuring treatment outcomes for problem gambling..

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Stinchfield, R., Winters, K. C., Botzet, A., Jerstad, S., & Breyer, J. (2007). Development and psychometric evaluation of the gambling treatment outcome monitoring system (GAMTOMS). Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21(2), 174–84. http://doi.org/2007-08148-006

“Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders”
Principal Investigator: Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance
Awarded $1.14 million a year from 2001 - 2009

The NCRG delegated the research and education functions of the NCRG to the Division on Addiction, Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching hospital of HMS, from 2001 to 2009. This grant supported the intramural research conducted by the Division on Addiction faculty and also the extramural research grants program that sponsored the research projects listed in this section from 2001 through 2008.

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Boudreau, A., LaBrie, R. A., and Shaffer, H.J. (2009). Towards DSM-V: "Shadow Syndrome" symptom patterns among pathological gamblers. Addiction Research & Theory, 17(4), 406-419.

Gebauer, L., LaBrie, R. A., and Shaffer, H. J. (2010). Optimizing DSM-IV classification accuracy: A brief biosocial screen for detecting current gambling disorders among gamblers in the general household population. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(2), 82-90.

Kleschinsky, J. H., Bosworth, L. B., Nelson, S.E., Walsh, E. K., & Shaffer, H.J. (2009). Persistence pays off: Follow-up methods for difficult-to-track longitudinal samples. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(5), 751-761.

Kleschinsky, J. H., Kaplan, S. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2008). The Missouri Voluntary Exclusion Program: Participant Experiences across 10 Years. Boston, MA: Division on Addictions, Harvard Medical School.

LaBrie, R. A., Peller, A. J., LaPlante, D. A., Bernhard, B., Harper, A., Schrier, T., & Shaffer, H. J. (2012). A brief self-help toolkit intervention for gambling problems: A randomized multi-site trial. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82(2), 278-289. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01157.x

LaBrie, R.A., Nelson, S.E., LaPlante, D.A., Peller, A.J., Caro, G., & Shaffer, H.J. (2007). Missouri casino self-excluders:  Distributions across time and space. Journal of Gambling Studies, 23 (2), 231-243.

LaBrie, R.A., & Shaffer, H.J. (2007). Editorial: Gambling with Adolescent Health. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(5), 387-389.

LaBrie, R. A., Shaffer, H. J., LaPlante, D., & Wechsler, H. (2003). Correlates of college student gambling in the United States. Journal of American College Health, 52, 53-62.

LaPlante, D. A., Gray, H. M., Bosworth, L., & Shaffer, H. J. (2010). Thirty years of lottery public health research: methodological strategies and trends. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(2), 301-329.

LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2006). Men and women playing games: Gender and the gambling preferences of Iowa Gambling Treatment Program participants. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22(1), 65-80.

LaPlante, D.A., Nelson, S.E., LaBrie, R.A., & Shaffer, H.J. (2008). Stability and progression of disordered gambling: lessons from longitudinal studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 53(1), 52-60.

LaPlante, D.A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2007). Understanding the influence of gambling opportunities: Expanding exposure models to include adaptation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 616-623.

Lee, T. K., LaBrie, R.A., Seung Rhee, H., Shaffer, H. J. (2008). A study of South Korean casino employees and gambling problems. Occupational Medicine, 58(3), 191-197.

Lee T. K., LaBrie, R. A., Grant, J. E., Kim, S. W., & Shaffer, H. J. (2007). The structure of pathological gambling among Korean gamblers: A cluster and factor analysis of clinical and demographic characteristics. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 6, 551-563.

Nelson, S. E., Gebauer, L., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2009). Gambling problem symptom patterns and stability across individual and timeframe. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(3), 523-533.

Nelson, S. E., Kleschinsky, J. H., LaBrie, R. A., Kaplan, S., & Shaffer, H. J. (2010). One decade of self-exclusion: Missouri casino self-excluders four to ten years after enrollment. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(1), 129-144.

Nelson, T.F., LaBrie, R.A., LaPlante, D.A., Stanton, M., Shaffer, H.J., & Wechsler, H. (2007). Sports betting and other gambling in athletes, fans, and other college students. Research Quarterly on Exercise and Sport, 78(4), 271-83.

Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2006). The proxy effect: Gender and gambling problem trajectories of Iowa Gambling Treatment Program participants. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22(2), 221-240.

Odegaard, S. S., Peller, A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2005). Addiction as syndrome. Paradigm, 9, 12-13, 22.

Peller, A. J., LaPlante, D. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2008). Parameters for safer gambling behavior: Examining the empirical research. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24(4), 519-534. doi: 10.1007/s10899-008-9097-5

Shaffer, H. J. (2003). A critical view of pathological gambling and addiction: Comorbidity makes for syndromes and other strange bedfellows. In G. Reith (Ed.), For fun or profit? The controversies of the expansion of commercial gambling. New York: Prometheus Books.

Shaffer, H. J. (2004). Foreword. In J. L. Derevensky & R. Gupta (Eds.), Gambling problems in youth: Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. v-x). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Shaffer, H.J. (2005). From disabling to enabling the public interest: Natural transitions from gambling exposure to adaptation and self-regulation. Addiction, 100(9), 1227-35; discussion 1235.

Shaffer, H. J. (2007). Considering the unimaginable: Challenges to accepting self-change or natural recovery from addiction (Foreword). In H. Klingemann & L. Carter-Sobell (Eds.), Promoting Self-Change from Addictive Behaviors: Practical Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Treatment (second edition). New York: Springer.

Shaffer, H. J., & Albanese, M. (2004). Addiction's defining characteristics. In R. H. Coombs (Ed.), Addiction Counseling Review: Preparing for Comprehensive, Certification and Licensing Exams: Lahaska Press.

Shaffer, H. J., Dickerson, M., Derevensky, J., Winters, K., George, E., Karlins, M., & Bethune, W. (2001). Considering the ethics of public claims: An appeal for scientific maturity. Journal of Gambling Studies, 17, 1-4.

Shaffer, H.J., Donato, A.N., LaBrie, R.A., Kidman, R.C., & LaPlante, D.A. (2005). The epidemiology of college alcohol and gambling policies. Harm Reduction Journal, 2(1), 1.

Shaffer, H. J. & Freed, C. R. (2005). The assessment of gambling related disorders. In D. Donovan & G. A. Marlatt (Eds.), Assessment of Addictive Behaviors. New York: Guilford.

Shaffer, H. J., Freed, C.R., & Healea, D. (2002). Gambling disorders among homeless persons with substance use disorders seeking treatment at a community center. Psychiatric Services, 55(9), 1112-1117.

Shaffer, H. J. & Kidman, R. (2003). Shifting perspectives on gambling and addiction. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 1-6.

Shaffer, H. J. & Kidman, R. (2004). Gambling and the public health. In J. E. Grant & M. N. Potenza (Eds.), Pathological gambling: A clinical guide to treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

Shaffer, H.J., LaBrie, R., & LaPlante D. (2004). Laying the foundation for quantifying regional exposure to social phenomena: Considering the case of legalized gambling as a public health toxin. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 40-48.

Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D., Kidman, R., & Donato, A. (2005). The Iowa Gambling Treatment Program: Treatment outcomes for a follow-up sample. Journal of Gambling Studies, 21, 59-71.

Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R., LaPlante, D., Kidman, R. & Korn, D. A. (2002). Evaluating the Iowa Department of Public Health Gambling Treatment Program: Four years of evidence. Boston: Harvard Medical School, Division on Addictions.

Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., Kidman, R. C., & Nelson, S. E. (2004). The Iowa Department of Public Health Gambling Treatment Services: Follow-up Study Report (Technical Report #20304-200). Boston: Harvard Medical School.

Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., & Nelson, S. B. (2004). Disordered gambling in Missouri: Regional differences in the need for treatment. Phase I Report prepared for: The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation in partial fulfillment of the research grant “Evaluation Services with Regard to the Regional Impact of Compulsive Gambling” supported by the Port Authority Problem Gambling Fund.

Shaffer, H.J., LaBrie, R., LaPlante D., Nelson, S. E. & Stanton, M. (2004). The road less travelled: Moving from distribution to determinants in the study of gambling epidemiology. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry,48(8),159-171.

Shaffer, H. J. & LaPlante, D. (2005). The treatment of gambling related disorders. In G. A. Marlatt & D. M. Donovan (Eds.), Relapse Prevention (second ed.). New York: Guilford.

Shaffer, H., LaPlante, D., LaBrie, R., Kidman, R., Donato, A., & Stanton, M. (2004) Toward a syndrome model of addiction: Multiple expressions, common etiology. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 12, 367-374.

Shaffer, H. J., Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., LaBrie, R. A., Albanese, M., & Caro, G. (2007). The epidemiology of psychiatric disorders among repeat DUI offenders accepting a treatment-sentencing option. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 795–804.

Shaffer, H. J., Peller, A. J., LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., & LaBrie, R. A. (2010). Toward a paradigm shift in Internet gambling research: From opinion and self-report to actual behavior. Addiction Research & Theory, 18(3), 270–283.

Shaffer, H.J., Stanton, M.V., Nelson, S.E. (2006). Trends in gambling studies research: quantifying, categorizing and describing citations. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22(4), 427-42.

Xuan, Z., & Shaffer, H. (2009). How do gamblers end gambling: Longitudinal analysis of Internet gambling behaviors prior to account closure due to gambling related problems. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25(2), 239–252.

2000

“A Family-Genetic Study of Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Donald W. Black, MD, University of Iowa
Awarded $169,929 in 2000

Aim: Understand the role that family history of gambling disorder plays in the development of pathological gambling. The investigator received a major grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2005 to continue the research.

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Black, D.W., & Monahan, P.O., Temkit, M., & Shaw, M. (2006). A family study of pathological gambling. Psychiatry Research, 141(3), 295-303.

Black, D.W., Moyer, T., & Schlosser, S. (2003). Quality of life and family history in pathological gambling. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 191, 124-126.

Shaw, M.C., Forbush, K.T., Schlinder, J., Rosenman, E., & Black, D.W. (2007). The effect of pathological gambling on families, marriages, and children. CNS Spectrum, 12(8), 615-622.

“Naltrexone and Citalopram Treatment of Pathological Gambling and Co-Morbid Alcohol Abuse or Dependence”
Principal Investigator: Marc N. Potenza, MD, Ph.D., Yale School of Medicine
Awarded $172,500 in 2000

Aim: Test the short-term tolerability and efficacy of the antidepressant citalopram, naltrexone (a drug used to blunt cravings for alcohol) and a citalopram/naltrexone combination pharmacotherapy in the treatment of dually diagnosed patients with pathological gambling and alcohol abuse or dependence.

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Potenza, M.N. (2001). The neurobiology of pathological gambling. Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 6, 217-226.

Potenza, M.N. (2001). Pathological gambling: A present problem from the past. Psychiatric Times (online exclusive).

Potenza, M.N. (2002). A perspective on future directions in the prevention, treatment, and research of pathological gambling. Psychiatric Annals, 32, 203-207.

Potenza, M.N. (2003). Pathological gambling and impulse control disorders. In J. Soares & S. Gershon (Eds.), Medical Handbook of Psychiatry, pp. 683-700.

Potenza, M. N. (2005). Advancing Treatment Strategies for Pathological Gambling.
Journal of Gambling Studies, 21(1), 91-98.

Potenza, M.N. & Charney, D.S. (2001). Pathological gambling: A current perspective. Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 6, 153-154.

Potenza, M.N., Fiellin, D. A., Heninger, G.R., Rounsaville, B.J., & Mazure, C.M. (2002). Gambling: An addictive behavior with health and primary care implications. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 17, 721-32.

Potenza, M.N. & Hollander, E. (2002). Pathological gambling and impulse control disorders. In C. Nemeroff, J. Coyle, D. Charney, & K. Davis (Eds.), Neuropsychopharmacology: The 5th Generation of Progress. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkens.

Potenza, M.N., Kosten, T.R., & Rounsaville, B.J. (2001). Pathological gambling. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286, 141-144.

Potenza, M.N., Leung, H.C., Blumberg, H.P., Peterson, B.S., Fulbright, R.K., Lacadie, C.M., et al. (2003). An fMRI Stroop study of ventromedial prefrontal cortical function in pathological gamblers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1990-1994.

Potenza, M.N., Steinberg, M.A., Skudlarski, P., Fulbright, R.K., Lacadie, C.M., Wilber, M.K., et al. (2003). An fMRI study of gambling urges in pathological gamblers. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(8), 828-836.

Potenza, M.N. & Wilber, M.K. (2001). Neuroimaging studies of pathological gambling and substance dependence. Psychiatric Times, 18(10): 58-64.

Potenza, M.N. & Winters, K.C. (2003). The neurobiology of pathological gambling: Translating research findings into clinical advances. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 7-10.

Chambers R. A., & Potenza, M.N., (2003). Impulse control disorders. In M.J. Aminoff & R.B. Daroff (Eds.), Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences (Vol. 2). San Diego, CA:  Academic Press.

Chambers, R. A. & Potenza, M.N., (2003). Neurodevelopment, impulsivity and adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 53-84.

Chambers, R. A., Taylor, J.R. & Potenza, M.N. (2003). Developmental neurocircuitry of motivation in adolescence: A critical period of addiction vulnerability. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1041-1052.

Grant, J.E., Kim, S.W., & Potenza, M.N. (2003). Advances in the pharmacological treatment of pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 85-109.

Grant, J. E., Kim, S.W., Potenza, M.N., Blanco, C., Ibanez, A., Stevens, L., et al. (2003). Paroxetine treatment of pathological gambling: A multi-centre randomized controlled trial. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 18, 243-249.

Grant, J.E., & Potenza, M.N. (Eds). (2004). Pathological gambling: A clinical guide to treatment. Washington, DC:  American Psychiatric Press, Inc.

Shah, K.R., Eisen, S.A., Xian, H., Potenza, M.N. (2005). Genetic studies of pathological gambling: A review of methodology and analyses of data from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry. Journal of Gambling Studies, 21(2), 179-203.

“Pharmacological Priming of Gambling-Related Cognitions by Amphetamine”
Principal Investigator: Martin Zack, Ph.D., Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Awarded $75,042 in 2000

Aim: Explore the role played by neurochemical activation in the development of gambling addiction.

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Zack, M. & Poulos, C.X. (2004). Amphetamine primes motivation to gamble and gambling-related semantic networks in problem gamblers. Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, 195-207.

1999

“Adolescent Gambling Behavior as a Function of Individual Differences in Risk-Taking and Potentially Life-Diminishing Behaviors, Gender, Peer and Family Context, and Community Norms For Legalized Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Ph.D., University of South Alabama
Awarded $125,800 in 1999

Aim: Understand the role of demographic, individual, family, and peer variables in the development of gambling problems among adolescents.

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Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J. (2004). The associations among gambling, depression, and suicidal behavior in adolescents. In J. Derevensky and R. Gupta (Eds.), Gambling Problems in Youth: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R., & Rohling, M. L. (2004). Individual, family, and peer correlates of adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 20, 23-46.

Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Rohling, M. L., Rohde, P., & Seeley, J. R. (2004). The SOGS-RA versus the MAGS-7: Prevalence estimates and classification congruence. Journal of Gambling Studies, 20, 259-281.

“Adolescent Understanding of the Emotional and Cognitive Aspects of Gambling: The Development of A Prevention Strategy”
Principal Investigator: Nigel E. Turner, Ph.D., Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto
Awarded $88,296 in 1999

Aim: Develop and test an interactive prevention package designed to enhance the students’ understanding of the role of randomness, probability and emotion in non-problem gambling. The findings were published in the Journal of Gambling Studies.

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Turner, N. E., Macdonald, J., & Somerset, M. (2008). Life skills, mathematical reasoning and critical thinking: A curriculum for the prevention of problem gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24(3), 367-80.

“Affective, Cognitive and Perceptual Processes in Gambling: Differences between Pathological and Recreational Gamblers” Principal Investigator: Lawrence E. Jones, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Awarded $172,155 in 1999

Aim: Identify and describe several distinct "types" of gambling styles and strategies, including ones that will distinguish between subtypes of pathological gamblers.

“The Development of a Diagnostic Gambling Assessment – The GAM-IV”
Principal Investigator: Renee Cunningham-Williams, Ph.D., Washington University, St. Louis
Awarded $112,021 in 1999

Aim: Develop and test a new assessment instrument for gambling disorder. The grant provided seed money that helped the lead investigator secure funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute of Mental Health.

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Cunningham-Williams, R.M., & Cottler, L. B. (2001). The epidemiology of pathological gambling. Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 6, 155-166.

Cunningham-Williams, R.M., Cottler, L.B., & Womack, S.B. (2004). Epidemiology. In J.E. Grant and M.N. Potenza, Pathological gambling: A clinical guide to treatment, American Psychiatric Press, 25-36.

Cunningham-Williams, R.M., Grucza, R., Cottler, L.B., Womack, S.B., Books, S.J., Przybeck, T., Spitznagel, E.L., & Cloninger, R. (2005). Prevalence of pathological gambling among St. Louis area household residents. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 39, 377-90.

“Functional MRI of Neural Responses to Monetary Gains, Losses and Prospects in Pathological Gamblers and Normal Subjects”
Principal Investigator: Hans Breiter, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Awarded $172,500 in 1999

Aim: Understand brain activation produced by a monetary reward in a gambling-like experiment. As a result of this grant support, the lead investigator received support from National Institutes of Health and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

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Aharon, I., Etcoff, N., Ariely, D., Chabris, C. F., O'Connor, E., & Breiter, H. C. (2001). Beautiful faces have variable reward value: fMRI and behavioral evidence. Neuron, 32(3), 537-551.

Breiter, H. C., Aharon, I., Kahneman, D., Dale, A. & Shizgal, P. (2001). Functional imaging of neural responses to expectancy and experience of monetary gains and losses. Neuron, 30, 619-639.

Breiter, H., & Gasic, G. P. (2004). A general circuitry processing reward/aversion information and its implications for neuropsychiatric illness. In M. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The Cognitive Neurosciences, III (3rd ed., pp. 1043-1065). Cambridge: MIT Press.

Makris, N., Gasic, G.P., Seidman, L.J., Goldstein, J.M., Gastfriend, D.R., Elman, I., Albaugh, M.D., Hodge, S.M., Ziegler, D.A., Sheahan, F.S., Caviness, V.S., Tsuang, M.T., Kennedy, D.N., Hyman, S.E., Rosen, B.R., Breiter, H.C. (2004). Decreased absolute amygdala volume in cocaine addicts. Neuron, 4(4), 729-40.

“Reward Deficiency ERPS: Effects of D2a1, Gambling Pathology and ADHD”
Principal Investigator: Charles A. Warren, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago
Awarded $172,492 in 1999

Aim: Investigate whether certain event-related brain potential (ERP) abnormalities in response to gambling feedback might reflect a reward deficiency syndrome, whose severity theoretically is driven partly by presence of the dopamine D2 receptor gene, A1 variant (D2A1).

1998

“Double-Blind Study of Naltrexone and Placebo in the Treatment of Pathological Gambling Disorder”
Principal Investigator: Suck Won Kim, MD, University of Minnesota Medical School
Awarded $53,374 in 1998

Aim: Test efficacy of naltrexone, a drug used to blunt cravings for alcohol, for treating pathological gambling. In 2002, the lead investigator was awarded $464,463 by the National Institute of Mental Health to expand this study.

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Kim, S.W. & Grant, J.E. (2001). An open naltrexone treatment study in pathological gambling disorder. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 16, 285-289.

Kim, S.W. & Grant, J.E. (2001). The psychopharmacology of pathological gambling. Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 6, 184-194.

Kim, S.W., Grant, J.E. & Adson, D.E. (2001). Double-blind naltrexone and placebo comparison study in the treatment of pathological gambling. Biological Psychiatry, 49, 914-921

“The Harvard Project on Gambling and Health”
Principal Investigator: Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., C.A.S., Harvard Medical School
Awarded $465,069 in 1998

Aim: Investigate several streams of research on gambling and gambling disorders: 1) prevalence and measuring prevalence; (2) a public health framework for gambling; 3) a three-year study of the health risks of casino employees; (4) how gambling and other behavioral addictions are changing the notion of addiction; and (5) trends in gambling research and publications.

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Eber, G., B., & Shaffer, H. J. (2000). Trends in gambling studies research: quantifying citations. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(34), 461-467.

Korn, D. A. & Shaffer, H.J. (1999). Gambling and the health of the public: Adopting a public health perspective. Journal of Gambling Studies, 15, 289-365.

Shaffer, H. J. (1999). Addiction and gambling disorders: On matters of measurement and validity. The Behavioral Measurement Letter, 6, 2-6.

Shaffer, H.J. (1999). On the nature and meaning of addiction. National Forum: The Phi Kappa Phi Journal, 79, 9-14.

Shaffer, H.J. (1999). Strange bedfellows: A critical view of pathological gambling and addiction. Addiction, 94, 1445-1448.

Shaffer, H. J. (2000). Addictive personality. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology (4th ed., Vol. 1). Washington, D.C. & New York: American Psychological Association & Oxford University Press.

Shaffer, H.J., Eber, G.B., Hall, M., & Vander Bilt, J. (2000). Smoking behavior among casino employees: Self-report validation using plasma cotinine. Addictive Behaviors, 25, 693-704.

Shaffer, H. J., Forman, D. P., Scanlan, K., & Smith, F. (2000). Awareness of gambling-related problems, policies and educational programs among high school and college administrators. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16, 93-101.

Shaffer, H. J. & Hall, M. N. (2001). Updating and refining meta-analytic prevalence estimates of disordered gambling behavior in the United States and Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 92, 168-172.

Shaffer, H.J., Hall, M.N., & Vander Bilt, J. (1999). Gambling, drinking, smoking and other health risk activities among casino employees. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 36, 365-378.

Shaffer, H.J., Hall, M.N., & Vander Bilt, J. (2000). "Computer addiction": A critical consideration. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 162-168.

Shaffer, H. J. & Korn, D. A. (2002). Gambling and related mental disorders: A public health analysis, Annual Review of Public Health, 23, 171-212.

1997

“Cognitive Biases in Problem Gambling”
Principal Investigator: Nigel E. Turner, Ph.D., Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto
Awarded $33,748 in 1997

Aim: Understand how erroneous thoughts about the odds of winning contribute to the development of a gambling disorder.

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Turner, N. E., Liu, E., & Toneatto, T. (2009). What does a random line look like: An experimental study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 9, 60–71. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-009-9251-z

“Cognitive Treatment of Pathological Gambling Among Adults and Adolescents”
Principal Investigator: Robert Ladouceur, Ph.D., Universitié Laval
Awarded $140,499 in 1997

Aim: Test the efficacy of cognitive therapy—correcting the gambler’s erroneous assumptions about probability and statistics—as a treatment for pathological gamblers.

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Ladouceur, R., & Shaffer, H.J. (2005). Treating problem gamblers: Working towards empirically supported treatment. Journal of Gambling Studies, 21(1), 1-4.

Ladouceur, R., Sylvain, C., Boutin, C., & Doucet, C. (2002). Understanding and treating pathological gamblers. London: Wiley.

Ladouceur, R., Sylvain, C., Boutin, C., Lachance, S., Doucet, C., Leblond, J., et al. (2001). Cognitive treatment of pathological gambling. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 189, 774-780.

Ladouceur, R., & Walker, M. (1998). The cognitive approach to understanding and treating pathological gambling. In A.S. Bellack & M. Hersen (Eds.), Comprehensive Clinical Psychology, (pp. 588-601). New York: Pergamon.

Sylvain, C., Ladouceur, R., & Boisvert, J. M. (1997). Cognitive and behavioral treatment of pathological gambling: A controlled study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 727–732.

“Critical Dimensions of Relapse in Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: David C. Hodgins, Ph.D., University of Calgary
Awarded $106,638 in 1997

Aim: Understand factors leading to a high relapse rate among a sample of disordered gamblers who had recently quit gambling.

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Hodgins, D.C. (2001). Processes of changing gambling behavior. Addictive Behaviors, 26, 121-128.

Hodgins, D. C., Currie, S. R., & el-Guebaly, N. (2001). Motivational enhancement and self-help treatments for problem gambling. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 69, 50-57.

Hodgins, D. C. & el-Guebaly, N. (2004). Retrospective and prospective reports of precipitants to relapse in pathological gambling. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 72-80.

Hodgins, D.C., Makarchuk, K., el-Guebaly, N. & Peden, N. (2002). Why problem gamblers quit gambling: A comparison of methods and samples. Addiction Research and Therapy, 10, 203-218.

Hodgins, D. C., Peden, N., & Cassidy, E. (2005). The association between comorbidity and outcome in pathological gambling: A prospective follow-up of recent quitters. Journal of Gambling Studies,21(3), 255-71.

Holub, A., Hodgins, D. C., & Peden, N. E. (2005). Development of the temptations for gambling questionnaire: A measure of temptation in recently quit gamblers. Addiction Research & Theory, 13(2), 179–191. http://doi.org/10.1080/16066350412331314902

Thygesen, K. L., & Hodgins, D. C. (2003). Quitting again: Motivations and strategies for terminating gambling relapses. Journal of Gambling Issues, 9. http://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2003.9.11

“The Molecular Genetics of Pathological Gambling”
Principal Investigator: David E. Comings, MD, The City of Hope National Medical Center
Awarded $159,900 in 1997

Aim: Investigate association between pathological gambling and multiple dopamine receptor genes thus lending support for the idea that people with gambling disorders have a deficient reward center that predisposes them to developing a gambling disorder.

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Blum, K., Braverman, E. R., Holder, J. M., Lubar, J. F., Monastra, V. J., Miller, D., Lubar, J. O., Chen, T. J., & Comings, D. E. (2000). The reward deficiency syndrome: A biogenetic model for the diagnosis and treatment of impulsive, addictive, and compulsive behaviors. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 32(Suppl), i–iv, 1–112.

Comings, D.E. (1998). The molecular genetics of pathological gambling. CNS Spectrums, 3, 20-37.

Comings, D.E. (1999). Molecular heterosis as the explanation for the controversy about the effect of the DRD2 gene on dopamine D2 receptor density. Molecular Psychiatry, 4, 213-215.

Comings, D.E. (1999). SNPs and polygenic disorders: A less gloomy view. Molecular Psychiatry, 4, 314-316.

Comings, D.E. (2000). The molecular genetics of ADHD and conduct disorder: Relevance to the treatment of recidivistic antisocial behavior. In D. Fishbein (Ed.), Prevention of Antisocial Behavior. New York: Civic Research.

Comings, D.E. & Blum, K. (2000). Reward deficiency syndrome: Genetic aspects of behavioral disorders. In Uylings, et al. (Eds.), Cognition, Emotion and Autonomic Responses. Amsterdam:  Elsiver.

Comings, D.E., Chen, C., Wu, S. & Muhleman, D. (1999). Association of the androgen receptor gene (AR) with ADHD, and conduct disorder. Neuroreport, 10, 1589-1592.

Comings, D.E., Dietz, G., Johnson, J. P., & MacMurray, J. P. (1999). Association of Enkephalinase gene with low amplitude P300 waves. Neuroreport, 10, 2283-2285.

Comings, D.E., Gade-Andavolu, R., Gonzalez, N. Wu, S., Nuhleman, D., Chen, C., et al. (2002). The additive effect of neurotransmitter genes in pathological gambling. Clinical Genetics, 60, 107-116.

Comings, D. E., Gonzalez, N., Wu, S., Gade, R., Muhleman, D., Saucier, G., et al. (1999). Studies of the 48 bp repeat polymorphism of the DRD4 gene in impulsive, compulsive, addictive behaviors: Tourette syndrome, ADHD, pathological gambling, and substance abuse. American Journal of Medical Genetics Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 88, 358-368.

Wu, S. & Comings, D.E. (1999). A common C-1018G polymorphism in the human 5-HT1A receptor gene. Psychiatric Genetics, 9, 105-106.

“Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors Associated with Problem Gambling by Youth”
Principal Investigator: Randy Stinchfield, Ph.D., Minnesota Institute on Public Health
Awarded $57,339 in 1997

Aim: Investigate the rate of gambling and gambling problems among Minnesota public school students.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Jimenez-Murcia, S., Alvarez-Moya, E., Stinchfield, R., Fernandez-Aranda, F., Granero, R., Aymami, M.N., Gomez-Pena, M., Jaurrieta, N., Bove, F., & Menchon, J.M. (2010). Age of onset in pathological gambling: Clinical, therapeutic and personality correlates. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26, 235-248.

Stinchfield, R. (2000). Gambling and correlates of gambling among Minnesota public school students. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16, 153-173

Stinchfield, R. (2000). Youth gambling prevalence studies. Proceedings of the Interprovincial Think Tank on Youth and Gambling, October 21-22, 1999, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (pp.15-40). Edmonton, Alberta:  Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

Stinchfield, R. (2001). A comparison of gambling by Minnesota public school students in 1992, 1995, and 1998. Journal of Gambling Studies, 17, 273-296.

Stinchfield, R. (2002). Youth gambling: How big a problem? Psychiatric Annals, 32, 197-202.

Stinchfield, R. (2004). Demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors associated with youth gambling and problem gambling. In J. Derevensky & R. Gupta (Eds.), Gambling problems in youth: Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. 27-39). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Stinchfield, R. (2011). Gambling among Minnesota public school students from 1992 to 2007: Declines in youth gambling. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25(1), 108-117.

Stinchfield, R., Cassuto, N., Winters, K., & Latimer, W. (2002). Prevalence of gambling among Minnesota Public School Students in 1992 and 1995. In J. J. Marotta, J. A. Cornelius, and W. R. Eadington (Eds.), The Downside: Problem and Pathological Gambling (pp. 287-308). Reno, NV: University of Nevada, Reno.

Stinchfield, R.D., Kushner, M., & Winters, K.C. (2005). Alcohol abuse and pathological gambling:  Impact on treatment outcome. Journal of Gambling Studies, 21(3), 273-297.

Stinchfield, R. & Winters, K.C. (1998). Gambling and problem gambling among youth. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 556, 172-185.

Stinchfield, R. & Winters, K. C. (2004). Epidemiology of adolescent and young adult gambling. In J. E. Grant & M. N. Potenza (Eds.), Pathological gambling: A Clinical Guide to Treatment, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

“Relation of Cognitive Status to Brain Blood Flow and Dopamine Receptors in Pathological Gamblers”
Principal Investigator: Peter F. Goyer, MD, VA Medical Center-Cleveland
Awarded $138,000 in 1997

Aim: Test hypotheses that disordered gamblers, compared to controls, will perform more poorly on tests of attention and executive function, will have significantly reduced rCBF in frontal cortex and reduced dopamine D2 receptor function, and will be more likely to be carriers of the D2A1 allele for the dopamine D2 receptor gene.

“Youth Gambling: Transition from Adolescence to Young Adulthood”
Principal Investigator: Ken C. Winters, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Awarded $56,410 in 1997

Aim: Investigate youth gamblers over an eight-year period.

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Derevensky, J. L., Gupta, R., & Winters, K. (2003). Prevalence rates of youth gambling problems: Are the current rates inflated? Journal of Gambling Studies, 19(4), 405–425. http://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026379910094

Winters, K. C., & Anderson, N. (2000). Gambling involvement and drug use among adolescents. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(2-3), 175–198.

Winters, K.C., Stinchfield, R.D., Botzet, A., & Slutske, W. (2005). Pathways of youth gambling problem severity. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 104-107.

Winters, K.C., Stinchfield, R.D., Botzet, A. & Anderson, N. (2002). A prospective study of youth gambling behaviors. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, 3-9.

1996

“Estimating the Prevalence of Disordered Gambling Behavior in the United States and Canada: A Meta-Analysis”
Principal Investigator: Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., C.A.S., Harvard Medical School
Awarded $140,000 in 1996

Aim: Conduct a meta-analytic strategy to synthesize estimates of gambling disorder from 119 prevalence studies to determine a national rate of gambling disorder in the adult general population and subpopulations in the US and Canada. The findings were praised by the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of Pathological Gambling as the most reliable estimates to date (Pathological Gambling: A Critical Review, 1999).

▼Click here to see the studies produced by this grant

Shaffer, H. J., Hall, M.N., & Vander Bilt, J. (1997). Estimating the prevalence of disordered gambling behavior in the United States and Canada: a meta-analysis. Boston: Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.

Shaffer, H.J., Hall, M.N., & Vander Bilt, J. (1999). Estimating the prevalence of disordered gambling behavior in the United States and Canada: A research synthesis. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 1369-1376.

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