Problem gambling: a suitable case for social work?

Problem gambling attracts little attention from health and social care agencies in the UK. Prevalence surveys suggest that 0.6% of the population are problem gamblers and it is suggested that for each of these individuals, 10–17 other people, including children and other family members, are affected. Problem gambling is linked to many individual and social problems including: depression, suicide, significant debt, bankruptcy, family conflict, domestic violence, neglect and maltreatment of children and offending. This makes the issue central to social work territory. Yet, the training of social workers in the UK has consistently neglected issues of addictive behaviour. Whilst some attention has been paid in recent years to substance abuse issues, there has remained a silence in relation to gambling problems. Social workers provide more help for problems relating to addictions than other helping professions. There is good evidence that treatment, and early intervention for gambling problems, including psycho-social and public health approaches, can be very effective. This paper argues that problem gambling should be moved onto the radar of the social work profession, via inclusion on qualifying and post-qualifying training programmes and via research and dissemination of good practice via institutions such as the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). Keywords: problem gambling; addictive behaviour; socia

Electronic gaming machine characteristics: it's the little things that count

A range of gamblers, from low-frequency social gamblers through to problem gamblers in treatment, participated in focus groups discussing the characteristics of Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) that they found attractive. Analyses of the resulting transcripts resulted in two groups of EGM characteristics being identified as important, one group associated with winning and one with betting. Overall, free spin features were identified in all groups as the most attractive characteristic of EGMS. Beyond that it was smaller win-related characteristics, and low-denomination machines with multiple playable lines that were associated with increased duration and intensity of gambling behaviour. The important characteristics were consistent across different levels of gamblers, with the key behavioural difference being a self-reported ‘expertise’, and ‘strategic’ approach to gambling amongst higher-frequency gamblers and problem gamblers in treatment. The key characteristics all occur frequently and result in more wins and extended gambling sessions. The patterns identified resonated with established behavioural principles, and with models describing the development of problem gambling and addictions more generally

Unhealthy Gambling Amongst New Zealand Secondary School Students: An Exploration of Risk and Protective Factors

This study sought to determine the prevalence of gambling and unhealthy gambling behaviour and describe risk and protective factors associated with these behaviours amongst a nationally representative sample of New Zealand secondary school students (n = 8,500). Factor analysis and item response theory were used to develop a model to provide a measure of ‘unhealthy gambling’. Logistic regressions and multiple logistic regression models were used to investigate associations between unhealthy gambling behaviour and selected outcomes. Approximately one-quarter (24.2 %) of students had gambled in the last year, and 4.8 % had two or more indicators of unhealthy gambling. Multivariate analyses found that unhealthy gambling was associated with four main factors: more accepting attitudes towards gambling (pp = 0.0061); being worried about and/or trying to cut down on gambling (p p = 0.0009). Unhealthy gambling is a significant health issue for young people in New Zealand. Ethnic and social inequalities were apparent and these disparities need to be addressed

Embryonic Diapause Is Conserved across Mammals

Embryonic diapause (ED) is a temporary arrest of embryo development and is characterized by delayed implantation in the uterus. ED occurs in blastocysts of less than 2% of mammalian species, including the mouse (Mus musculus). If ED were an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon, then it should be inducible in blastocysts of normally non-diapausing mammals, such as domestic species. To prove this hypothesis, we examined whether blastocysts from domestic sheep (Ovis aries) could enter into diapause following their transfer into mouse uteri in which diapause conditions were induced. Sheep blastocysts entered into diapause, as demonstrated by growth arrest, viability maintenance and their ED-specific pattern of gene expression. Seven days after transfer, diapausing ovine blastocysts were able to resume growth in vitro and, after transfer to surrogate ewe recipients, to develop into normal lambs. The finding that non-diapausing ovine embryos can enter into diapause implies that this phenomenon is phylogenetically conserved and not secondarily acquired by embryos of diapausing species. Our study questions the current model of independent evolution of ED in different mammalian orders

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Gambling Behaviours and Associated Risk Factors for 17 Year Old Pacific Youth

Summary This study is a component of the Pacific Islands Families Study, which is a longitudinal cohort study of a birth cohort of 1,398 Pacific infants who were recruited into the study from a South Auckland hospital in 2000. In 2017, the cohort children were 17 years old and an extensive set of gambling-related questions was included in their survey. Six hundred and thirty-two youth were surveyed. Research has shown that Pacific adults are less likely to participate in gambling activities than European adults but that those who do gamble have a higher risk of developing levels of harmful gambling. The reasons for the increased risk are not well understood and the gambling behaviours of Pacific youth, which could lead to adult gambling behaviours, are even less researched. This research report begins to address this gap in knowledge.Ministry of Healt

Comparing an Additional High-risk Gambler Cohort With National Gambling Study High-risk Gamblers. NGS Series Report Number 7

Background The New Zealand National Gambling Study (NGS) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of adults aged 18 years and older. The purpose of the NGS is to provide information on the prevalence, incidence, nature and effects of gambling in New Zealand. Participants in the NGS were recruited in 2012 (Wave 1), and then re-interviewed annually in 2013 to 2015 (Waves 2 to 4). It is important to note that in 2013 (Wave 2), due to budgetary constraints, attempts were only made to re-contact 5,266 (84%) of the original 6,251 participants meaning that 985 participants (16%) were lost to the study because no re-contact attempt was made. In 2012, there were 1481 moderate-risk and problem gamblers amongst the 6,251 participants. Subsequently, the number was 75, 55 and 57 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. As the number of moderate-risk and problem gamblers in the NGS is relatively small (about two percent of participants), this limits the extent of statistical analyses that can be performed, especially when sub-group analyses are required. Therefore, an additional cohort of 1062 adult (aged 18 years and older) moderate-risk and problem gamblers was recruited from gambling venues and via advertisements in 2014/15, and re-assessed in 2015/16. The cohort was a self-selected convenience sample recruited in Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington from August 2014 to July 2015. From September 2015 to July 2016, 70 participants were re-contacted and re-interviewed (66% response rate). Participants were sought via advertisements placed in the jobs section of a national auction and classifieds website, advertisements on a national employment website (in the volunteer section) and via gambling venues (casino and Class 43 venues). The four cities were selected as they are the major cities in New Zealand with a range of available gambling opportunities. The questionnaires used for the additional cohort were the same as those used in Wave 1 (2012) and Wave 2 (2013) of the NGS, so that additional cohort data could be used to supplement NGS data. The questionnaire incorporated a range of measures on gambling participation, gambling strategies and cognitions, gambling attitudes, problem gambling, health and well-being, psychological status, substance use/misuse, life events, social capital/support and demographic information. Findings from the NGS study to date have been published in a series of six reports. The Wave 1 results are presented in three reports covering an overview of gambling and gambling participation findings (Abbott, Bellringer, Garrett, & Mundy-McPherson, 2014a), gambling harm and problem gambling (Abbott et al., 2014b), and attitudes towards gambling (Abbott et al., 2015a). The Wave 2, Wave 3 and Wave 4 results are detailed in three further reports (Abbott et al., 2015b; Abbott et al., 2016, Abbott et al., 2018). This report is the seventh in the series. As the results from the additional cohort are compared with data from NGS Wave 1 and Wave 2 data, this report should be read in conjunction with those reports, in particular, report number 1 (Abbott et al, 2014a), report number 2 (Abbott et al., 2014b) and report number 4 (Abbott et al., 2015b).New Zealand Ministry of Healt