Hon Ho

Public Health and Preventive Medicine

What are the different characteristics between gamblers who prefer strategic games and those who prefer non-strategic games?

Background

The prevalence of pathological gambling is comparable to

many other psychiatric disorders.  However, relatively little is known

about gambling addiction.  More knowledge about pathological gambling

will have public health implications such as targeting specific

population groups for prevention.

Objective

To investigate the

association between game preference (strategic vs. non-strategic

games) and the following characteristics of gambling-treatment

seekers: 1) gender, 2) age, 3) race, 4) DSM (Diagnostic and

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) IV criteria (i.e. symptoms of

pathological gambling) endorsed, and 5) DSM score (i.e. number of

symptoms endorsed).

Methods

First, a series of multinomial

regression was performed to select individual factors/covariates that

have significant association with game preference (p < 0.1).  After

including all those selected factors/covariates in a preliminary

model, another multinomial regression was performed to adjust for

confounders and select factors/covariates that still have significant

association with game preference (p < 0.05).  Those selected

factors/covariates were included in the final

model.

Results/Conclusion

The client population consists of 4871

gambling-treatment seekers in Oregon between 2002 and 2005.  After

adjusting for confounders, gamblers who prefer strategic games tend to

be male, Asian, and those who endorsed the symptom “preoccupied with

gambling”.  Gamblers who prefer non-strategic games tend to be older,

have higher DSM score, and those who endorsed the symptom “unable to

stop/control”.  Prevention strategies should focus on those

differentiating characteristics.