(PEI) is a largely ru ral prov ince with an adult pop u la tion of ap prox i mately 100 000. Prince Edward Is land ers have var i ous gam bling ac tiv i ties avail able to them, in clud ing con ven tional lot ter ies, video lot tery ter minals (VLTs), horse rac ing, bingo, and char i ta ble gam bling activ i ties. Al though PEI does not have a ca sino, one is avail able within driv ing dis tance, in Nova Sco tia.In 1999, the pro vin cial gov ern ment re ceived gam bling prof its to tal ling ap prox i mately 13 mil lion dol lars, and PEI was second only to Que bec in per ca pita spend ing on gam bling ($340) (1). Gov ern ment rev e nues sug gest that gam bling is a pop u lar ac tiv ity in PEI, and there has been con sid er able concern voiced from the pub lic, gov ern ment, and the med i cal com mu nity about gam bling's ad verse ef fects, es pe cially in re la tion to VLTs (2). Very few em pir i cal data have been reported, how ever, re gard ing the in ci dence of gam bling in the prov ince.In con trast, gam bling prev a lence stud ies-for ex am ple, Robert Ladouceur's work in the prov ince of Que bec (3,4)-have been com pleted in most other prov inces, al though they have been re ported only rarely in the re search lit er a ture. Ta ble 1 sum ma rizes prev a lence rates of adult prob lem gam bling (less se vere prob lem rate plus prob a ble patho log i cal rate) ac cording to re cent sur veys, all of which used the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) (5).Prob lem gam bling rates ap pear to be rel a tively sta ble across Can ada and are be low 5% in all prov inces. The pro file of prob lem gam blers is also rel a tively uni form. In gen eral, Cana di ans ex pe ri enc ing prob lems with gam bling are more likely to be male, sin gle, and youn ger than the gen eral pop u la tion.Missing from the Ca na dian re ports is in for ma tion about the group of gam blers who score pos i tively on the SOGS but are be low the cut-off point for prob lem gam bling (a score of 3). Since the di ag nos tic thresh old for gam bling pa thol ogy may be some what ar bi trary (13), SOGS scores of 1 or 2 could in dicate an at-risk level of prob lem atic gam bling that might be tar geted for pri mary-pre ven tion in ter ven tions.Many of the Ca na dian stud ies have re ported par tic u larly strong links be tween prob lem gam bling and con tin u ous-play ac tiv i ties such as card games (not played in ca si nos), ca sino games, bingo, horse rac ing, VLTs, and in stant-win tick ets (6,7,9
Although the gambling industry is expanding rapidly throughout North America and around the world, there are only a few empirically evaluated programs aimed at the prevention of pathological gambling (PG). The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a new prevention program aimed at PG. The Stop & Think! program was designed to teach at-risk video lottery terminal (VLT) gamblers cognitive restructuring and problem-solving skills that may help to prevent the development of PG. These skills were taught through a variety of methods - including an automated educational presentation, video and text vignettes, audio training tapes, and skill rehearsal. The program was evaluated using a randomized, 2-group experimental design with a wait-list control group and pre-, post-, and follow-up measures. Results indicated that, compared with the control group, the experimental group was less at risk for developing a gambling problem after the program. The experimental group endorsed fewer gambling-related cognitive distortions, engaged in less VLT gambling, and had lower scores on a measure of PG. The results of this study provide the basis for the implementation of the Stop & Think! program in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada, and perhaps other jurisdictions too.
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 7 persons who had significant involvements with video lottery terminal (VLT) gambling, and themes associated with different phases of the gambling experience were identified. The preinvolvement phase was characterized by lack of meaningful relationships, problematic relationships, and feelings of loss. Early involvement reflected attempts to "fill the void" and the casual innocence of initial VLT playing. The deepening involvement phase indicated themes of the language of relationship, for example, focused engagement, emotional highs and lows, and the escape and competition offered by gambling. Ending involvement themes included the emotional difficulty of quitting and strategies used to break the habit. Implications of these results for models of addiction and for the treatment of gambling problems are explored.
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