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DMHAS Problem Gambling Services 2009

Gambling’s Place in History

“One of the few social activities that occurs in nearly all cultures and every period of time…”

George Caleb Bingham, “Raftsman Playing

Cards”, 1847 Miners playing poker and shooting crapsdown by the river bank. Clover Gap Mine,

Harlan County, Kentucky, 1946

Socially Acceptable Gambling as Revenue Source

A first class lottery ticket for the Jeffersonville Canal Company, an enterprise established by the Indiana

legislature in 1818 for the purpose of building a canal at the Falls of the Ohio.

(Library of Congress), Shelby College, KY Lottery, 1864, (Duke Digital Scriptorium)

The Role of Money

• Americans spend more $ on gambling (over $600 billion/yr) than on food ($400 billion/yr). AP, 3/04

• 27% to 47% of gambling industry revenue comes from problem gamblers. DMHAS PGS 2005

More About Money

• Average current debt of CT Helpline callers: $34,000 ($63,000 for SE CT callers, 2003).CCPG, 2006

• CT leads US in embezzlements. CTGS, 6/09

More About Money, con’t

• State of CT made over $715 million from legalized gambling revenues in 2007. DSR, 2008

• State $ allocated for prevention, treatment, and research on PG: $0.

• Budget for treatment/prevention of problem gambling as legislated from CT Lottery funds: $1.7 million DMHAS PGS 2007

• State budget to advertise the CT Lottery: $10 million Hartford Courant August 2008

Prevalence of Problem Gambling

• One out of twenty CT citizens will develop a gambling problem at some point in their lives.

• Each problem gambler impacts eight other people.

• Range: Problem to Pathological• Adult lifetime rate of problem & pathological

gambling combined: 6% DMHAS PGS 2003

Populations at risk for developing a gambling problem include:

• Youth: underage & college students, college athletes• Recent phenom: Scholar-athletes• Women• Substance abuse & mental health clients• Older adults who gamble• Internet users• Athletes• Cultures of luck/numbers• People who gamble• People who live within 50 miles of a casino (The rate of

PG doubles within 50 miles of a casino, NGISC, 1999)

Top Gambling Activities Causing Problems for PG Helpline Callers

Slot Machines: 54%(Males: 31%, Females: 77%)

Lottery scratch-off tickets: 34%

Blackjack*: 26%

(Males: 30%, Females: 21%)

Lottery-Lotto: 16%

Lottery-Powerball: 16%* At casino CCPG, 2007

Youth Gambling: Then and Now

A group of Newsies playing craps in the jail alley at 10 P.M.

Albany, N.Y., 1910.

(National Archives)

A group of boys play a game of poker Sunday, Oct 23, 2005, at Erdmann's home

in Fargo, N.D. The high schoolers often play poker with their parents approval.

(AP Photo/The Forum, Britta Trygstad)

Youth/Underage Problem Gambling

PG rates for youth range from 11% to 13.2%, more than double adult rates.

(Study of CT High Schools,1998 & CT Youth Gambling Rpt, 2008)

Youth who gamble have higher rates of depression, anxiety, crime and delinquency;

• are more likely to participate in alcohol and other drug use;

• have lower self esteem, poorer coping skills. (Shaffer, et al, 1999)

“The earlier people begin gambling, the more likely they are to experience problems from gambling.”

National Academy of Sciences, 2001

Gambling and PG among CT High School Students

• More high school students have gambled for money at some time (87%) than have used alcohol & other drugs (67%).

• 32% of students under the age of 18 have purchased lottery tickets.

• 18% of high school problem gamblers report a current or past problem with alcohol (compared to 5.3% of non-problem gamblers).

• Students who gamble excessively are more likely to abuse substances and vice versa.• A history of problem gambling and/or substance abuse

among family members is significantly related to problem gambling among students. CCPG, 1998

Gambling & PG among CT H.S. Students, con’t.

Key Findings from Youth Gambling in CT,2008

• 90% Gambled in past year.• 81% Played cards w/friends for money.• 60% Bet w/friends.• 42% Received instant lottery tickets as gifts.

• 66% of all students began gambling between 12-17.• 32% began gambling at age 11 or younger.• 33% of students classified as pp/pg reported starting gambling at

age 8 or younger.

• 11.8% of all students have worry/concern over the gambling of a close family member.

Youth and Online Gambling

• 87% of youth (12-17) are internet users• In US 88% of teens (12-18) play video games

Gentile, 2009

• In spite of illegal status 300,000 young adults (14-21) gamble on line weekly and 700,000 at least monthly Annenburg, 2008

• Pathological video gaming Gentile, 2009

– 8% pathological play– Pathological gamers 2X as likely to be diagnosed with

attention problems.

Internet/Electronic Gambling

More potential for addiction than other types of gambling due to:

• Easily accessible, 24/7;• Speed of play; • Images, lights and sound rapidly condition the

brain;• Using debit or credit cards;• Anonymity of play.

School Sponsored/Supported Gambling Events

Pools, 2% Bingo, 2%

Project Graduation,

13%

Casino Nights, 7%

After-Prom Parties, 6%

Other, 1%

Raffles (50-50 and

other raffles), 69%

Does your schoolsponsor or support

anygambling eventsthroughout the year?

• 40% “yes” • 29% “I don’t know”• 31% “no”

From Youth Gambling in CT Report 2008

Cerebellum

Neurological maturation starts at the back of the brain, and moves to the front

Prefrontal Cortex

Judgment is last to develop!

Nucleus Accumbens

Amygdala

PhysicalCoordination

Emotion

Motivation

Judgment

“The adolescent brain has an accelerator that is more developed than the brakes.”

Dr. Ken Winters, National Conference on Law Higher Education, February 2008

“Adolescence is a time-limited disorder.” Howard Shaffer, Harvard Institute of Addictions, 1999

Adolescents may be prone to make decisions that:

• Are more impulsive;

• Focus on and overestimate short-term payoffs and underplay longer-term consequences;

• Fail to consider alternative courses of action;

• Reflect a high degree of risk; and

• Are vulnerable to peer pressure.

The Pruning Process: “Use it or loose it”

“If a teen is doing music, or sports, or academics, those are the cells and connections that will be hardwired.

If they are lying on the couch, or playing video games, or watching MTV, those are the cells and connections that are going to survive.”

Dr. Jay Giedd, NIMH, 2000

Family History Plays a Role

Problem gamblers report growing up in a family with:

Alcohol abuse: 38%

Gambling problem: 30%

Drug Abuse: 26%

Abusive behavior: 25%

These rates far surpass the national average

CCPG, 2006

Parental InfluenceParental Influence

• Parents have critical Parents have critical impact on a child’s impact on a child’s gambling.gambling.

• Parent modeling and Parent modeling and engagement in engagement in gambling with teens gambling with teens increases likelihood of increases likelihood of teen gamblingteen gambling

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DSM-IV Criteria for Pathological Gambling

• Preoccupation with gambling.• Needs to gamble more to get the same

level of excitement.• Repeated unsuccessful efforts to stop.• Restlessness/irritability when attempting to

cut down.• Gambles as a way to escape problems or

relieve other stresses (depression, guilt, anxiety, etc.).

DSM-IV Criteria con’t.

• After losing $ gambling, goes back to get even (“chasing one’s losses”).

• Lies to conceal extent of gambling.• Has committed illegal acts to finance gambling

(bad checks, stealing, forgery, embezzlement).• Has jeopardized or lost significant

relationship/job/education due to gambling.• Reliance on others to provide money to relieve

financial situation caused by gambling.

Why Integrating Problem Gambling Prevention in Education on Addictions Helps Identify PGs

• Now on “radar screen”.

• Awareness creates the opportunity to “have the discussion”.

• Information provides tools for assessment, referral, treatment.

• Caution: make note of school gambling policies (or lack thereof).

Holistic TX Model for Young Problem Gamblers

• Multi-faceted approach.• Individual Therapy.• Group: age-appropriate, psycho-ed. • Essential Parental Involvement.• Abstinence vs. Harm Reduction.• Move along Stages of Change.• Use of Motivational Interviewing, Motivational

Enhancement Therapy, et al, to increase Protective Factors.

• G.A. ill-equipped for young people.

Youth Gambling Report Conclusions

• Growing body of scientific evidence that PG is an emerging societal issue requiring significant attention/response from families, schools, communities, state government & gambling industry.

• Form Youth Gambling Task Force empowered to advance Report recommendations.

Key Recommendations of Youth Gambling Report

• Increase gambling education at home & in schools.

• Develop and/or enforce school gambling policies.

• Reduce youth access to gambling sites, products & activities.

• Identify, refer, & treat youth problem gamblers.• Conduct ongoing data collection & analysis on

youth gambling.• Embed gambling prevention in other state

prevention policies, plans, programs.

Highlights from the 2009 CT Gambling Impact Study

Although the State once contributed 78% of all casino $ to the 169 towns, this allocation has dropped to 21%.

Influx of non-English speaking immigrants to casino jobs has had dramatic impact on housing and school systems in area;

number of languages spoken in Norwich schools, for example, has increased from 3 to 30;

ESOL $ demands drain resources from other academic programs.

Towns surrounding the two casinos report DUI arrests have more

than doubled since 1992. GICAESI, 2009

DMHAS Problem Gambling Services 2009

Links to the Full Reports

Connecticut Youth Gambling Report 2008

www.ct.gov/dmhas/youthreport

Gambling in Connecticut: Analyzing the

Economic and Social Impacts 2009

www.ct.gov/dosr/lib/dosr/june_24_2009_

spectrum_final_final_report_to_the_state_

of_connecticut.pdf

DMHAS Problem Gambling Services 2009

Additional factors to keep in mind

• Legal and illegal gambling opportunities are everywhere, and widely advertised/promoted.

• Casino visits now “rites of passage”.• Most underage teens are introduced to gambling

by a parent or adult close to them.• Gambling can be a way to deal with pain,

depression, or other problems involving low self-esteem, school, work, family, friends, and peer

pressure.• PG is easy to hide (often loved ones suspect

“something is wrong”).• Treatment can be successful---working with

youth “a work in progress”.