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Risk Factors for Problem Gambling in California: Demographics, Comorbidities and Gambling Participation

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Abstract

While population surveys have been carried out in numerous jurisdictions internationally, little has been done to assess the relative strength of different risk factors that may contribute to the development of problem gambling. This is an important preparatory step for future research on the etiology of problem gambling. Using data from the 2006 California Problem Gambling Prevalence Survey, a telephone survey of adult California residents that used the NODS to assess respondents for gambling problems, binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, and gambling participation variables that statistically predicted the odds of being a problem or pathological gambler. In a separate approach, linear regression analysis was used to assess the impact of changes in these variables on the severity of the disorder. In both of the final models, the greatest statistical predictor of problem gambling status was past year Internet gambling. Furthermore, the unique finding of a significant interaction between physical or mental disability, Internet gambling, and problem gambling highlights the importance of exploring the interactions between different forms of gambling, the experience of mental and physical health issues, and the development of problem gambling using a longitudinal lens.

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Acknowledgements

The survey reported on here was funded by the California Office of Problem and Pathological Gambling, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Health and Human Services Agency. Subsequent analytic work was supported by a grant from the Center for Excellence in Survey Research at NORC at the University of Chicago.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 715 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Rachel A. Volberg

  2. NORC at the University of Chicago, 55 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL, 60603, USA

    Lauren M. McNamara & Kari L. Carris

Authors
  1. Rachel A. Volberg
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  2. Lauren M. McNamara
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  3. Kari L. Carris
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Correspondence to Rachel A. Volberg.

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Conflict of interest

Rachel A. Volberg has no conflicts of interest to declare in relation to this article. She has no affiliations with the gambling industry. She has received research funding from several government agencies in the last three years, including the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Canadian Consortium for Gambling Research, and the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre. She has also received research funding from several academic and non-governmental agencies in the last three years, including the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, the Oregon Council on Problem Gambling, and Turning Point Eastern Health in Victoria, Australia. Lauren M. McNamara declares that she has no conflict of interest. Kari L. Carris declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All of the procedures used in collecting the survey data on which this paper relies were in accordance with the ethical standards of NORC at the University of Chicago, the National Institutes of Health, and the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Volberg, R.A., McNamara, L.M. & Carris, K.L. Risk Factors for Problem Gambling in California: Demographics, Comorbidities and Gambling Participation. J Gambl Stud 34, 361–377 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9703-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9703-5

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