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Gambling addiction draws attention of researchers

Author

Joan Taillon, Windspeaker Staff Writer, EDMONTON

Volume

17

Issue

12

Year

2000

Page 25

Nechi Training, Research & Health Promotions Institute released a report Feb. 29 on the study it did last summer into the prevalence of gambling among adult Aboriginal Albertans.

Copies of the "Dream Chaser" report have since been sent to all 29 participating communities, where many of the 500 people surveyed have identified significant problems with gambling issues.

The purpose of the study, said Nechi's chief executive officer Ruth Morin, is that a 1995 study of gambling and problem gambling among Aboriginal adolescents in Alberta revealed that "Aboriginal youth were in danger of developing further and more serious problems in gambling.

"It also suggested that the environment that these young people lived in may be contributing to the development of gambling problems."

So Nechi wanted to "gain a better understanding of the different factors related to gambling and problem gambling within the (adult) Aboriginal community," said Morin.

Researchers Darlene Auger, a Nechi employee, and David Hewitt, a psychologist with Infinity Research, prepared the report. Gambling activities they asked about included use of scratch tickets, lotteries, video lottery terminals, bingos, raffles, cards, casinos, arcades, internet, hand games, horse races and other sport betting events, and games of skill.

The survey showed that males and females are equally likely either to gamble or not gamble. Only 12 per cent of the 500 studied did not gamble at all.

Another 63 per cent fell into the category of non-problem gamblers. But for one in four of the study participants, gambling is taking a social, emotional and financial toll. Eight per cent are problem gamblers and 17 per cent are probable pathological gamblers. In the general adult population in Alberta, only five per cent have problems.

At the same time, nearly two-thirds - 65 per cent - of all participants in the study have children and 40 per cent are single parents. Twelve per cent said they are also raising grandchildren.

"In terms of gambling," said Harold Tookenay, senior trainer at Nechi, "the trend that we've been noticing across Canada, the people are saying 'we know that there's a gambling problem. We just want to know what to do about it now.' That seems to be the trend. On an individual basis, speaking anecdotally now, I've spoken to some people who've said, 'yeah, I know I have a gambling problem. I'm just not ready to do anything about it yet.' And that seems to be the trend collectively."

Tookenay thinks that attitude springs from people not knowing where to go or what to do next. On the other hand, some communities are admitting they have a bingo and VLT problem and are asking Nechi to come out and provide information. One of the uses for the study is to raise awareness of gambling as an addictive behavior for some people and to provide hard data on the scope of gambling activity to communities that are considering how they want to deal with it.

The results and recommendations that came out of the study indicate that although a lot of progress is being made in overcoming alcohol problems in the group, there is a lot more work to be done in the area of gambling. The sum of the survey statistics suggest that one addiction is being replaced by another.

In designing a profile of "the current gambler," that is, someone who had gambled at least once in the preceding12 months, the researchers used a device based on 20 criteria of the American Psychiatric Association to diagnose pathological gambling. The device is called the South Oaks Gambling Screen. It classifies gamblers into three categories: non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers and probable pathological gamblers.

When the results were tallied, Nechi found that current gamblers in all three categories are more likely to live on reserve - 69 per cent of probable pathological gamblers and 58 per cent of problem gamblers, compared to 49 per cent of non-problem gamblers. Twenty-nine per cent of non-problem gablers live in a city, compared to19 per cent of problem gamblers and eight per cent of problem pathological gamblers.

Other findings were that all three groups of gamblers were more likely to have gambled for money the first time between the ages of 16 and 20 and the first gambling experience for the majority was bingo or cards. But 23 per cent of problem gamblers and 14 per cent of probable pathological gamblers started these activities before the age of 10, compared to 10 per cent in the non-problem group. First gambling experiences included many of the activities of older teens and adults, but also betting opportunities such as marbles, coin toss, carnival games and pool.

Nearly half of probable pathological gamblers - 47 per cent - and 26 per cent of problem gamblers play bingo at least once a week. Only seven per cent of non-problem gamblers play bingo at least once a week, however.

The survey also reveals that among Aboriginal Albertans, problem gamblers and probable pathological gamblers are less educated than non-problem gamblers, although the majority of the study participants have graduated from high school and have received some post-secondary education or training.

Nineteen per cent of problem gamblers and 18 per cent of probable pathological gamblers had an elementary or junior high school education; whereas, only seven per cent of non-problem gamblers were in the lowest educational category.

The numbers leaned the other way with university enrollment: 20 per cent of non-problem gamblers had attended university, while only seven per cent of problem gamblers and 10 per cent of probable pathological gamblers had.

The findings suggest either that better educated people handle their money more responsibly or they are more aware of gambling as a potential social problem. The possibility was raised too that people who are not able to leave their reserve are more likely to develop into gamblers because they feel there is not much else to do.

Participans were asked how much time they spent weekly on gambling, the largest daily amount they had bet and the reasons they gamble.

The majority in all three categories said they spend just one to three hours a week gambling. But nearly twice as many of the non-problem gamblers (91 per cent) as probable pathological gamblers (52 per cent) spend that amount of time. The time spent by most problem gamblers in gambling sessions (26 per cent) and probable pathological gamblers (24 per cent) was between four and eight hours a week, but 11 per cent of the problem pathological group gambled more than 12 hours a week. This did not include the time spent travelling to the venues where gambling takes place.

Not surprisingly, heavy gamblers spent the most money. Sixty-one per cent of probable pathological gamblers spend up to $1,000 in one day; another 21 per cent in this category spend more. But gamblers are more likely to be employed (70 per cent), have a higher income and have a spouse than are non-gamblers. Those classified as non-problem gamblers were most likely to be in the lowest income bracket of under $5,000 and their average yearly expenditure on gambling was $948, while problem pathological gamblers typically had an annual income of $15,000 to $30,000, of which they gambled an average of $9,624.

The overwhelmingly top reason for gambling by all three groups was stated as "for fun or entertainment," survey results show. The next two most popular reasons were "to win money" and "excitement." Only nine to 12 per cent of all gamblers did it to socialize, which begs the question whether gambling is an anti-social activity. More than half of the problem pathological gamblers (52 per cent) said they gambled to forget problems and 42 per cent said they did it to be alone. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of problem gamblers gave both those reasons for gambling.

Four specific recommendations were made to deal with the problems associated with gambling. These deal with preventio, education, treatment and further research.

The report says that community developers and healers have to be involved in every part of the process of setting up programs, starting with the research phase. It stresses educating about addictions within the school system and promoting healthy choices early. In part this is because the adults who are gambling now often do not consider many of their activities gambling and have a difficult time recognizing they have a problem. Treatment programs need to do more than focus on avoiding a particular activity or substance that a person may be addicted to when they enter recovery. Instead, programs should put more emphasis on the factors that contribute to the addictive personality and help people recognize the potential for transferring addictions.

Finally, for conducting research, the screening test was found to have limitations. A key recommendation was that a more culturally sensitive tool be designed for use in future studies among Aboriginal people to obtain more accurate statistics. In addition, the report reiterates the often stated complaint that research conducted in Aboriginal communities frequently does not result in any benefit returning to them. To overcome this negative outcome, the report recommends that support systems should be a built-in component of all research projects; and researchers should be prepared to help set up a support system in the community when the job is done.