This study will contribute substantially to the relatively sparse literature on the risks and correlates of problem and pathological gambling among women. It will take advantage of a timely opportunity to add a state-of- the-art gambling component to one of the premier longitudinal studies of substance abuse and mental health issues, the National Study of Health and Life Experiences among women. This survey, which will begin questionnaire pretesting in mid-2000, is comprised of screened-in oversamples of women who have reported moderate to heavy levels of drinking a behavior pattern which appears to be a strong correlate of at- risk, problem, and pathological gambling, according to the relatively crude measures available from previous surveys that covered both factors. As funded by a current NIAAA grant, the NSHLEW will administer a 75- minute interview to approximately 1,550 women in 2001. The interview as currently designed will cover many aspects of health-related behavior; the present proposal will add a six-minute module to the questionnaire focusing on specific gambling attitudes, behaviors, and psychiatric disorders of particular relevance to women, based on careful refinement of a recent national telephone and in-person patron-intercept survey of adult women and men conducted for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.
The specific aims of this study are (1) to test hypotheses about the risks and correlates of problem and pathological gambling in women as measured by the NORC Diagnostic Screen (NODS), which is a DSM-IV based assessment of gambling disorders, used in the recent Commission survey. Correlates to be tested, which are well covered in the NSHLEW time series include social affiliation and isolation, substance use, depression, suicide, eating disorders, risky sexual behavior, childhood sexual abuse, and spousal alcohol problems or gambling disorders. (2) to determine how different types of gambling patterns, particularly multiple game playing, preference for electronic gaming devices, and proximity to and density of particular types of gaming venues are related to prevalence of problem and pathological gambling; and (3) to assess the relationships between gambling participation, DSM problem levels, and particular motives for gambling, including escape from personal problems practice of perceived skills, and seeking to win money.
| Toce-Gerstein, Marianna; Gerstein, Dean R; Volberg, Rachel A (2009) The NODS-CLiP: a rapid screen for adult pathological and problem gambling. J Gambl Stud 25:541-55 |
| Toce-Gerstein, Marianna; Gerstein, Dean R; Volberg, Rachel A (2003) A hierarchy of gambling disorders in the community. Addiction 98:1661-72 |
