While many people have gambled in their lives, for some it can lead to an addiction. Problem gambling can be devastating to family and friends, damage job performance, create financial hardship, even lead to homelessness. It can also cause depression, anxiety and a variety of mental health conditions. The good news is that there are ways to help a loved one struggling with gambling problems.
In the past, gambling was confined to casinos and land-based lotteries. But now it is possible to gamble on the internet, through mobile phones and video games. It is even possible to place bets on sports events. This has increased the accessibility of gambling to a wide range of people. This includes teens and young adults, and children as young as seven can be attracted to gambling on video games and mobile apps that require micro-transactions and payments.
Behavioral research on gambling is limited, but some of the most recent studies have focused on individuals with developmental disabilities and dementia. These researchers examined the preference for and reaction to gambling in long-term care residents.
The study included three residents from a 159-bed nursing facility who had a history of gambling problems. They completed a two-phase preference assessment using the paired-choice method. The first phase involved presenting five categories of visual stimuli (animals, food, letters, people, and casino games) to the participants in pairs of two. The participant selected the category that they preferred most. If they preferred gambling stimuli the most, they continued to the next phase of the experiment.