Characteristics of Treatment Seeking Finnish Pathological Gamblers: Baseline Data from a Treatment Study

Lahti, Tuuli; Halme, Jukka T.; Pankakoski, Maiju; Sinclair, David; Alho, Hannu

doi:10.1007/s11469-012-9411-4

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…Most are falling between the ages of 27 and 47 years (Black and Moyer 1998;Grant and Kim 2001;Abait and Folino 2007;Lahti et al 2013). This is consistent with our results.…”

Section: Demographics and Gambling Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 92%

Clinical Profile and Psychiatric Comorbidity of Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Pathological Gambling in South-Africa

Sinclair

Pasche

Pretorius³

et al. 2014

J Gambl Stud

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Pathological gambling is a prevalent and disabling mental illness, which is frequently associated with mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. However, there is relatively little data on comorbidity in individuals with pathological gambling from low and middle income countries such as South-Africa. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to assess the frequency of DSM-IV-TR disorders among 100 male and 100 female treatment-seeking individuals with pathological gambling in South-Africa. The Sheehan Disability Scale was used to assess functional impairment. In a South-African sample of individuals with pathological gambling, the most frequent current comorbid psychiatric disorders were major depressive disorder (28%), anxiety disorders (25.5%) and substance use disorders (10.5 %). Almost half of the individuals had a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder (46%). Female pathological gamblers were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with a comorbid major depressive disorder or generalised anxiety disorder than their male counterparts. Data from South-Africa are consistent with previously published data from high income countries. Psychiatric comorbidity is common among individuals with pathological gambling.

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“…Most are falling between the ages of 27 and 47 years (Black and Moyer 1998;Grant and Kim 2001;Abait and Folino 2007;Lahti et al 2013). This is consistent with our results.…”

Section: Demographics and Gambling Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 92%

Clinical Profile and Psychiatric Comorbidity of Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Pathological Gambling in South-Africa

Sinclair

Pasche

Pretorius³

et al. 2014

J Gambl Stud

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“…These results might be partially explained by the fact that, as shown by Evans and Delfabbro (2005), the primary motivations of help seeking among problem gamblers were crisis driven, and therefore the loss of a relationship, or a job, would be a motivator for seeking professional help. However, in the present study, a majority of male and female subjects were employed, as was the case in one of the previous study (Lahti et al., 2013), and more than half of male and female subjects were never married, and not currently in a relationship. We can also hypothesize that differing levels of availability and perception of professional help seeking for problematic gambling might influence treatment-seeking rates, regardless of family status.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…A consistently reported result was that women were older in age, and had initiated problematic gambling behavior at an older age than men ( Echeburúa, González-Ortega, de Corral, & Polo-López, 2011 ; Granero et al., 2009 ; Tang, Wu, & Tang, 2007 ). Men, in turn, reported more debt and more money spent on gambling ( Granero et al., 2009 ; Lahti, Halme, Pankakoski, Sinclair, & Alho, 2013 ) as well as more relational difficulties due to gambling ( Granero et al., 2009 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Differences in Treatment-Seeking British Pathological Gamblers

Ronzitti¹,

Lutri²,

Smith³

et al. 2016

J Behav Addict

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Background and aimGambling is a widespread recreational activity in the UK. A significant percentage of gamblers develop subclinical or clinically relevant problem gambling issues, but only a low percentage of them seek treatment. Although characteristics of pathological gamblers from treatment-seeking population have been examined in some research, only a few studies have explored the differences between females and males. This study aimed to examine the gender-related differences in demographics, gambling measures, and clinical variables in an outpatient sample of pathological gamblers seeking treatment.MethodsA total of 1,178 treatment-seeking individuals with gambling disorder were assessed at the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London. Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical variables, and gambling behavior habits were obtained during the assessment evaluation. Of the total sample, 92.5% were males and 7.5% were females.ResultsMales were more likely to be younger, white, and employed than females. In addition, compared to women, men showed a lower PGSI score, an earlier age of onset of gambling behavior, a higher gambling involvement, and preferred specific forms gambling. Female gamblers were more anxious and depressed, while men were more likely to use alcohol and illicit drugs.ConclusionsOur findings support the importance of gender differences in a treatment-seeking population of pathological gamblers both in sociodemographic characteristics, gambling behavior variables, and clinical variables. Males and females might benefit from group-specific treatment.

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“…In turn, problem gamblers, that do not meet the full criteria of PG, may have temptation to try their ‘luck’ with slot machines, perhaps due to their easy accessibility. Slot machine gambling has been reported as the most problem causing type of gambling in Finland [43-45]. In Finland, slot machines are openly scattered in shopping centres, small shops, kiosks, restaurants, casino and casual gambling arcades.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with disordered gambling in Finland

Castrén

Basnet

Salonen

et al. 2013

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy

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BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers and pathological gamblers, to investigate the association between gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being among the three subgroups of gamblers, and to analyse simultaneously socio-demographic characteristics, gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being and the severity of disordered gambling (problem gamblers and pathological gamblers).MethodsThe data were collected through a nationwide telephone survey in 2011. Participants were selected through a random population sample of 15-74-year-old Finns. From that sample, persons with any past-year gambling involvement (N = 3451) were selected for a subsample for the descriptive and inferential analysis in the present paper. Gambling was assessed using the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Statistical significance was determined by chi-squared tests. The odds ratio and effect size were computed by using multivariate-adjusted multinomial logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe most significant socio-demographic characteristics (male gender, young age, education ≤12 years), gambling related factors (slot machine gambling, internet gambling) and perceived health and well-being (feeling lonely, smoking daily, risky alcohol consumption, mental health problems) explained 22.9 per cent of the variation in the severity of disordered gambling.ConclusionMale gender and loneliness were found to be associated with problem gambling in particular, along with smoking and risky alcohol consumption. Mental health problems and risky alcohol consumption were associated with pathological gambling. These identified associations between disordered gambling, mental health problems and risky alcohol consumption should be taken into consideration when implementing screenings of disordered gambling.

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Characteristics of Treatment Seeking Finnish Pathological Gamblers: Baseline Data from a Treatment Study

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Clinical Profile and Psychiatric Comorbidity of Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Pathological Gambling in South-Africa

Clinical Profile and Psychiatric Comorbidity of Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Pathological Gambling in South-Africa

Gender Differences in Treatment-Seeking British Pathological Gamblers

Factors associated with disordered gambling in Finland

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