Prevalence of Problem Gambling: A Replication Study 7 Years Later

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between availability of gambling activities and participation in gambling, maximum amount of money lost in 1 day to gambling, and number of pathological gamblers. Method: Two random samples (1002 and 1257 adults) were surveyed 7 years apart using the South Oaks Gambling Screen to identify pathological gamblers. Results: Seven years later, significantly more people reported having gambled, and the number of pathological gamblers had increased by 75%. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that increases in the availability of gambling are related to increases in the number of problem gamblers.