Univ. Of Fla. research: Florida’s problem-gambler risk twice the national average

Floridians are more than twice as likely to be at risk for developing gambling problems as people nationwide, according to findings from Florida’s first statewide gambling survey conducted by University of Florida researchers.

The UF study also revealed that Florida has more than double the percentage of problem and compulsive gamblers as the national average, and that a greater proportion of Florida residents currently experience gambling problems.

UF researchers presented the findings on Friday at the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling’s annual conference in Orlando, Fla. The council, a nonprofit organization established to assist those adversely affected by gambling, helped support the study under a grant from the Florida State Lottery.

“Problem gambling is a significant public health issue. Gambling causes a lot of harm not only to the gamblers themselves, but to their friends and families and to society,” said Nathan A. Shapira, M.D., Ph.D, who led the study.

“Our research indicates that we have a serious problem in Florida, and without some type of intervention or an increase in awareness about our at-risk gamblers – which total a frightening 5.2 percent of the population, more than twice the national average – we will likely face a future epidemic of problem gambling in Florida,” said Shapira, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of UF.

The study’s main purpose was to evaluate the prevalence of problem gambling in the state for the first time. UF researchers will continue to analyze the data they obtained to gain further insight into the problem.

In 1998 – a decade after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the state to operate a lottery – gamblers in Florida wagered more than $4 billion on legal lottery, bingo, parimutual, card rooms and charitable games.

In a recent national survey, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported that about 2.5 million American adults are compulsive gamblers and 3 million more are problem gamblers. Another 15 million adults are at-risk for problem gambling, behavior that causes disruptions in any major area of life. Pathological gambling –commonly called compulsive gambling – is characterized by preoccupation and overall loss of control of life.

Based on conservative screening criteria used in the national survey, UF researchers found that 200,000 Floridians have suffered serious gambling-related difficulties in their lives, with another 135,000 currently experiencing such problems. The numbers were even higher – half a million and 250,000, respectively – when the researchers used another common assessment measure. The figures do not include the millions of others who are affected by gamblers’ activities.

“Compulsive gambling is a problem that is generally not recognized until the compulsive gambler has suffered such great losses that treatment becomes difficult, if not impossible,” said Mark S. Gold, M.D., chief of the division of addiction medicine at UF’s McKnight Brain Institute and a co-author of the report. “There’s a desperation at the end that often leads to suicide and other consequences that come about because no one recognizes the progression of the disease.”

For the current study, a professional telephone call center interviewed 1,504 Florida residents 18 and older between Oct. 16 and Dec. 2 about their participation in gambling activities, financial indebtedness, gambling problems, alcohol and drug use, mental health and demographic information. At least six attempts to each randomly dialed telephone number were made to complete the 313-question survey.

During the interview, respondents were asked if they had gambled in any one of 22 activities either weekly, within the past year or ever in their lifetime. The average interview lasted nearly 19 minutes.

Based on their answers, individuals were classified into one of five categories – ranging from nongamblers to pathological gamblers – using two widely recognized screening tools: the South Oaks Gambling Screen, used for state comparisons, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, for comparison with results reported in a 1999 national survey.

Among the results revealed in the UF study:

·Florida has more than double the percentage of problem and compulsive gamblers – 1.1 percent – than the .5 percent that was reported in the national survey.

·An additional 5.2 percent of Floridians are at risk of becoming problem gamblers compared with 2.3 percent of people nationally.

·Men are twice as likely to be at-risk gamblers, and 10 times more likely than women to be problem and pathological gamblers.

·Those with problems gambling also were much more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana and other illegal drugs.

·Residents between 50 and 65 years (32.9 percent) were more likely to be weekly gamblers than people in any other age category.

·On average, at-risk, problem and compulsive gamblers start at much earlier ages (18.7 to 21.6 years) than low-risk gamblers (27.5 years).

The survey also indicates that gambling-specific treatment appears inadequate statewide and that available services do not seem to meet the needs of those experiencing difficulties.

“While Florida is not the No. 1 state in terms of gambling problems,” Shapira said, “we certainly can get there quickly if we don’t address the at-risk gamblers in the state.”