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Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders
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Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders
Extramural Research Programs
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Extramural Research
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Funded Projects
Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research
The Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders is pleased to announce the availability of competitive grants to establish Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research, a new initiative of the National Center for Responsible Gaming. The two-fold purpose of this new grants program is to (1) advance the understanding of disordered gambling behavior through innovative, multi-disciplinary research investigations, and (2) enhance the dissemination of research findings to the public. Applications are due June 16, 2008. Click here to download the full Request for Applications.
Proposals submitted to the Institute’s extramural research grants program are reviewed by an independent panel of distinguished scientists. Following the procedures and criteria established by the National Institutes of Health, the peer review panels evaluate the scientific merit of proposals and make funding recommendations. The following have served as reviewers since 2001.
Mark Appelbaum, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor and Professor of Psychology
University of California, San Diego
Michael Bozarth, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
State University of New York-Buffalo
Hans Breiter, M.D.
Director
Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
Linda B. Cottler, Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology in Psychiatry
Washington University School of Medicine
Renee Cunningham-Williams, Ph.D.
Visiting Associate Professor
Brown School of Social Work
Washington University-St. Louis
Rani Desai, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Yale School of Medicine
Lance Dodes, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
William Eadington, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Director, Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming
University of Nevada, Reno
Richard I. Evans, Ph.D.
Distinguished University Professor of Psychology
University of Houston
Edward Federman, Ph.D.
Instructor in Psychiatry
Boston University School of Medicine
Gregory Gasic, Ph.D.
Director, Laboratory of Neurogenetics in the Athinoula A. Martinos Center
for Imaging, Department of Radiology
Co-Director, Motivation Emotion Neuroscience Collaboration (MENC)
Massachusetts General Hospital
Jon E. Grant, M.D., J.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
University of Minnesota School of Medicine
David Hodgins, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
University of Calgary
Barry Kosofsky, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics
Chief, Division on Pediatric Neurology
New York Weill Cornell Medical Center
Richard A. LaBrie, Ed.D.
Associate Director of Research and Data Analysis
Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance
Harvard Medical School
James Langenbucher, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Center for Alcohol Studies
Rutgers University
Debi A. LaPlante, Ph.D.
Instructor in Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
Scott Lukas, Ph.D.
Chief
Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology Laboratory
McLean Hospital
Eileen Luna-Firebaugh, J.D., M.P.A.
Associate Professor of American Indian Studies
University of Arizona
Richard McGowan, S.J., D.B.A.
Associate Professor of Economics
Boston College
Lisa M. Najavits, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Boston University School of Medicine
Peter E. Nathan, Ph.D.
University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology
University of Iowa
Timothy O’Farrell, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Harvard Medical School
Director, Families and Addiction Program
Boston VA Healthcare System
Roy Perlis, M.D.
Director of Pharmacogenomics Research, Depression Clinical Research Program
and Bipolar Research Program
Massachusetts General Hospital
Charan Ranganath, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Center for Neuroscience & Department of Psychology
University of California, Davis
John Renner, M.D.
Associate Chief of Psychiatry
Boston VA Healthcare System
David Self, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Lydia Bryant Test Professorship
Department of Psychiatry
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Wendy Slutske, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Missouri, Columbia
Randy Stinchfield, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
University of Minnesota Medical School
Joseph Westermeyer, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
Chief of Psychiatry
Minneapolis VA Medical Center
James Whelan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Memphis
Ken C. Winters, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
University of Minnesota Medical School
Harold Wynne, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
McGill University and University of Alberta
President, Wynne Resources, Ltd.
Funded Projects
Neuroscience
(click here for previous request for
applications)
DOPAMINE RELEASE IN RESPONSE TO MONETARY REWARD MEASURED
WITH POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY
Award: $156,634
Sponsoring Organization: McGill University
Principal Investigator: Alain Dagher, M.D.
Summary: The mesolimbic dopamine system has been implicated in motivation and drug addiction. Dopamine is thought to be the key component of the response to rewards, such as money. Therefore, it is likely that dopamine is released in the mesolimbic or mesostriatal system during gambling activities. Preliminary research using PET scans suggests that the amount of dopamine released varies from one individual to another and that this may be a marker for vulnerability to drug addiction. This research will extend this work to gambling disorders by comparing DSM-IV-diagnosed pathological gamblers to 10 healthy controls on a monetary reward gambling task and a mental stress task that does not involve monetary reward. The hypothesis is that compared to controls, pathological gamblers will show elevated dopamine release correlates with novelty-seeking personality type, cortisol levels and autonomic and mood measures. This study will yield new information about the neurobiology of gambling disorders and the role of the mesolimbic dopamine in reward and stress.
Status: Ongoing
FUNCTIONAL MRI OF DECISION-MAKING IN SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND
PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
Award: $172,500
Sponsoring Organization: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Principal Investigator: Jody Tanabe, M.D.
Summary: Pathological gambling is an addiction that shares many features with substance abuse. Both patient populations demonstrate insensitivity to the future consequences of their choices, despite the possibility of harming themselves or others. A diagnosis of pathological gambling, however, can exist without substance abuse and vice versa. Distinguishing between addiction to activities (e.g., gambling, sex) and to substances (e.g., cocaine, alcohol) may provide insight into the etiology of and relationship between these two linked diseases. This project will examine the degree to which substance abusers with pathological gambling differ or resemble non-gambling substances abusers in their neurophysiological responses to decisions involving money. A shared biology between gambling and drug addiction has been proposed, but few studies have directly compared the functional neuroanatomy among substance abusers, pathological gamblers, or those with co-morbid disease. The project will elucidate brain regions involved in decision-making processes related to gambling behavior and to determine if differences in activation can be identified in three groups: substance abusers, substance abusers with pathological gambling and controls. This will be accomplished using high field (3T) functional MRI methods to compare the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response in substance abusers with and without pathological gambling and controls during a risk-taking task.
Status: Completed in 2006.
Publication: Tanabe, J., Thompson, L. Claus, E., Dalwani, M., Hutchison, K., & Banich, M.T. (2007). Prefrontal cortex activity is reduced in gambling and non-gambling substance users during decision- making. Human Brain Mapping.
RULES, REWARDS, AND DECISIONS IN THE ORBITAL PREFRONTAL
CORTEX
Award: $170,292
Sponsoring Organization: University of California-Davis
Principal Investigator: Charan Ranganath, Ph.D.
Summary: Relatively little is known about the etiology and treatment of pathological gambling and related addictive disorders. Basic research on the neural mechanisms underlying reward processing and cognitive control can provide promising insights into such disorders. For example, recent research has suggested a link between pathological gambling (PG) and dysfunction in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Accordingly, research on the neurocognitive functions of the OFC can provide a foundation for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to PG and related disorders. This research program will use state-of-the-art methods in event-related functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to test hypotheses about cognitive processes implemented by the OFC—processes that are likely to be impaired in individuals with gambling and other addictions. One set of experiments will investigate the role of the OFC in trial-and-error rule learning, and determine whether this involvement depends on whether learning is based on gains (monetary rewards) or on losses (monetary punishments). A second set of experiments will investigate the role of the OFC in behavioral inhibition and in the use of motivational information (i.e., monetary rewards and punishments) in decision-making. Initial pilot data suggests that results may reveal new insights into the neurobiology of behavioral addictions.
Status: Completed in 2005.
Publications:
Cohen, M.X., & Ranganath, C. (2005). Behavioral and neural predictors of upcoming decisions. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 5(2), 117-26.
Cohen, M.X., Young, J., Baek, J.M., Kessler, C., & Ranganath C. (2005) Individual differences in extraversion and dopamine genetics predict neural reward responses. Cognitive Brain Research, 25(3), 851-61.
Ranganath C. (2006). Working memory for visual objects: Complementary roles of inferior temporal, medial temporal, and prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience, 139(1), 277-89.
Ranganath, C., & Blumenfeld, R.S. (2005). Doubts about double dissociations between short- and long-term memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(8), 374-80.
Ranganath, C., Cohen, M.X., & Brozinsky, C.J. (2005). Working memory maintenance contributes to long-term memory formation: neural and behavioral evidence. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(7), 994-1010.
NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
Award: $172,500
Sponsoring Organization: Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa
Principal Investigator: Donald W. Black, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry
Summary: Critical questions remain unanswered about the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie gambling disorders. This project will conduct a neuropsychological assessment on 100 subjects diagnosed with pathological gambling and 100 controls. The hypothesis is that persons with pathological gambling will perform more poorly on measures of executive function (e.g., decision-making), attention, and impulsivity but that general intelligence and memory will not differ. The project will employ neuropsychological tests of known reliability, blind testing procedures and state-of-the-art statistical analyses. This research will advance understanding of gambling disorders by helping to pin down the underlying neuropsychological contributions to pathological gambling and ultimately lead to improved and more targeted treatment and prevention strategies.
Status: Ongoing
THE COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE OF CONTROL AND DECISION
MAKING IN PROBLEM GAMBLING
Award: $167,088
Sponsoring Organization: University of Georgia
Principal Investigator: Brett A. Clementz, Ph.D.
Summary: People are more risk seeking when they perceive an element of control. This finding has important implications for pathological gambling, a condition thought to be significantly associated with the illusion of control. Understanding the relationship between behavior and changes in brain activity during decision-making will be helpful for understanding the neural substrates of pathological gambling. This project will collect brain activity data while participants engage in behavioral tasks of controlled decision making that index the link between perceived control and gambling pathology. Measurements of brain activity using MEG, in combination with electroencephalography (EEG), will yield exceptional information about differences between problem and non-problem gamblers concerning the spatial and temporal patterns of brain functioning that support decision-making.
Status: Ongoing
DOPAMINERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION AND COGNITIVE BIAS IN
PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
Award: $149,185
Sponsoring Organization: Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
Principal Investigator: Jakob Linnet, Ph.D.
Summary: This research project will focus on the relation between dopaminergic neurotransmission and gambling activity. The hypothesis is that pathological gamblers have a lower dopamine concentration and a higher dopamine release during gambling compared with healthy controls; that other factors such as personality traits (sensation seeking) influence the dopamine release during gambling; and, that dopamine binding potential and occupancy are associated (directly or indirectly) with cognitive bias of gambling performance. The research will also look at the relation between blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal and cognitive processing of gambling activity. The hypothesis is that the cognitive processing of gambling involves the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), and that pathological gamblers show a reduced VMPFC BOLD activation during gambling. In addition, the investigators will examine whether cognitive bias of reward and punishment is associated with a connectivity of striatum and nucleus accumbens to the VMPFC, which may be related to the dopaminergic neurotransmission in the striatum.
Status: Ongoing
Incentive Grants
for New Investigators
(Click here for previous request for
applications)
PREVALENCE OF GAMBLING DISORDERS: ASSOCIATION WITH DRUG
USE AND PSYCHIATRIC COMORBIDITY IN ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN BALTIMORE
Award: $23,000
Sponsoring Organization: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Principal Investigator: Silvia Martins, M.D., Ph.D.
Summary: According to different studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada, 3.5% to 8% of adolescents in the general population are pathological gamblers. Even though it is believed that there are higher rates of gambling and gambling disorders among adolescents of ethnic minorities, few studies have been conducted within a group where most of the adolescents are from a minority population. The aims of this study were to: 1) estimate the prevalence rates of gambling habits and gambling disorders in a sample of 519 15-16 year old youth (90% African American) from Baltimore city; 2) examine the association of low levels of parent monitoring and deviant peer relationship with gambling involvement in this group of adolescents; 3) assess comorbidity of PG with alcohol and drug use in this group, analyzing differences according to different levels of gambling involvement; 4) assess the association of PG with psychiatric comorbidity such as depressive and anxiety symptoms, impulsivity and antisocial behavior.
Status: Completed in 2006.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE PROPENSITY TO APPROACH
SIGNALS VS. GOALS: RELEVANCE TO PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
Award: $56,197
Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan
Principal Investigator: Shelly B. Flagel, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research
Fellow
Summary: Unveiling the fundamental mechanisms underlying gambling disorders using genetic, molecular and behavioral neuroscience tools is crucial for therapeutic intervention. Few, if any, animal models of pathological gambling exist that would allow us to intricately investigate the neurobiological circuitry implicated in such behavior. This study will take advantage of two animal models of individual differences to create a viable model of pathological gambling that addresses both the impulsivity and risk-taking dimensions of the disorder. While pathological gambling is a disorder specific to the human species, an animal model relevant to the disorder is critical to gain a better understanding of the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms regulating such behavior.
Status: Ongoing
GAMBLING PATTERNS AND PROBLEMS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF
CHANGE IN GAMBLING PATTERNS IN A COLLEGE STUDENT SAMPLE
Award: $57,436
University of Missouri, Columbia
Principal Investigator: Anna E. Goudriaan, Ph.D.
Summary: Sub-clinical gambling problems (i.e., having problems with gambling but not sufficiently severe to meet diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling) make up the largest proportion of gambling-related problems, yet longitudinal studies of gambling problems are underrepresented. This research will focus on gambling patterns, changes over time in gambling patterns, at-risk gambling and gambling problems, in a four-year longitudinal study of 2,470 college students. The findings may have important implications for prevention and intervention techniques that can be applied in the general population. First, the study will address whether classes of individuals, varying along a range of gambling dimensions (e.g., long versus short odds, informal versus formal gambling, and illegal/underage gambling versus legal gambling) are associated with individual differences, such as impulsivity/novelty seeking, involvement in alcohol/drug use and other risky behaviors. Second, it will examine high risk gambling and gambling problems. Knowledge of vulnerability factors associated with at-risk gambling in students is highly relevant, in order to target prevention efforts at this group. Third, the research will address changes in gambling patterns, by determining which factors are related to different patterns of gambling behavior and their changes over time. Finally, the investigation will determine whether frequent gamblers also differ from low risk and non-gamblers on two neurocognitive self-regulation measures.
Status: Ongoing
A NOVEL APPROACH FOR INVESTIGATING THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL
BASIS OF GAMBLING USING A RODENT ANALOGUE OF THE IOWA GAMBLING TASK
Award: $57,500
Sponsoring Organization: University of British Columbia
Principal Investigator: Catharine A. Winstanley, Ph.D.
Summary: Research using animal models of psychiatric illness provides vital insight into the neural and neurochemical basis of these disorders and stimulates the design of effective therapeutic interventions. An animal model of gambling behavior would be an important advance in enabling the
investigation of the psychological and neurobiological processes involved in pathological gambling (PG). This project will develop and test a novel model of gambling behavior in rats based on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) commonly used to assess clinical populations. Preliminary data indicate that rats can “play the odds,” i.e., can discriminate between different response outcomes associated with the delivery of different reward magnitudes but also different probabilities of long-term losses. This project will help determine if the rat IGT (RIGT) is a valid model of gambling behavior. The study will examine whether damage to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) increases risky decision-making in keeping with data from human studies.Status: Ongoing
Social and
Behavioral Science
(Click here for previous requests for applications (Translational
RFA & Social and Behavioral
Science RFA))
AN ANALYSIS OF PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING IN THE NATIONAL
COMORBIDITY REPLICATION SURVEY
Award: $115,000
Sponsoring Organization: Harvard Medical School
Principal Investigator: Ron Kessler, Ph.D.
Summary: This project will yield the first study of the gambling data collected for the first time in the 2001-2003 version of the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS-R), first conducted in the early 1990s. The NCS-R, supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, is considered a landmark study of mental health in the U.S. The survey included 9,282 households selected at random in 34 states. The study's 10-year follow-up went further by measuring, for the first time, the severity and persistence of people's mental illness and the quality of their treatment.
Status: Ongoing
A POPULATION-BASED TWIN STUDY OF PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
Award: $172,201
Sponsoring Organization: Virginia Commonwealth University
Principal Investigator: Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D.
Summary: This investigation is conducting a detailed assessment of pathological gambling in 7,500 adult male and female twins from a population-based registry using self-report questionnaires. The study aims at elucidating the heritability of pathological gambling, clarifying its etiologic relationship with milder forms of problem gambling, and determining the genetic and environmental relationship between pathological gambling and major psychiatric disorders and personality traits. The investigators are seeking to determine whether pathological gambling is best conceptualized as a non-pharmacologic form of drug abuse or a variant of obsessive-compulsive behavior. The study will also look at the impact of gender differences on the disorder.
Status: Ongoing.
GAMBLING AMONG ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS: PREVALENCE AND RISK
FACTORS
Award: $160,639
Sponsoring Organization: Boston University
Principal Investigator: Edward J. Federman, Ph.D.
Summary: As legalized gambling has expanded and as older adults have sought more varied recreational activities, senior citizen center trips to casinos have become increasingly common. However, there is no empirical evidence that the elderly are at an increased risk for developing a gambling problem. This study examined whether cognitive impairment or limited social support increase the risk of developing gambling problems in older adults. The project screened individuals who attend senior centers that provide bus trips to casinos for possible gambling problems and evaluated the cognitive functioning and social support of a subset of the sample. Early identification of those at risk can inform policy, prevention and treatment efforts, permitting those who safely enjoy the casino trips to continue the activity while protecting more vulnerable individuals. Identification of high-risk populations enables precise targeting of scarce resources to those most in need, and helps lay the basis for effective primary and secondary prevention strategies.
Status: Completed in 2006.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF AN INTEGRATED GAMBLING
ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OUTCOME MONITORING SYSTEM (GAMTOMS)
Award: $172,294
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota Medical School
Principal Investigator: Randy Stinchfield, Ph.D.
Summary: Treatment providers, payers, clients, and policy makers are interested in the effectiveness of treatment and how treatment may be improved, in terms of both therapeutic effectiveness and cost effectiveness. However, the dearth of treatment outcome studies has left the field without a standard treatment for gambling disorders. This project will address the need for a reliable and valid treatment outcome assessment tool by measuring the reliability and validity of the Gambling Treatment Outcome Monitoring System (GAMTOMS), based upon the most up-to-date treatment outcome monitoring technology as recommended by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Status: Completed in 2006
Publication: Stinchfield, R., Winters, K.C., Botzet, A., Jerstad, S., & Breyer, J. (in press). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Gambling Treatment Outcome Monitoring System (GAMTOMS). Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF GAMBLING ON
PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA
Award: $172,477
Sponsoring Organization: Yale School of Medicine
Principal Investigator: Rani A. Desai, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Summary: Despite evidence that psychiatric patients have higher than average rates of gambling disorders, no studies have focused on patients with schizophrenia. This study assessed the prevalence and types of gambling and related behaviors and problems in patients with schizophrenia, and the influence of a co-occurring diagnosis with a substance use disorder on gambling behaviors and problems in patients with schizophrenia. The investigation also looked at the effect of two treatment variables on gambling behaviors, symptoms, and other problems: 1) treatment with typical vs. atypical antipsychotics; and 2) treatment with specialized dual diagnosis treatment programs as compared with those receiving mental health and substance abuse services in separate settings.
Status: Completed in 2004.
BEHAVIORAL COUPLES THERAPY FOR PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLERS
Award: $57,500
Sponsoring Organization: The Research Foundation of SUNY on behalf of the
University at Buffalo/Research Institute on Addictions
Principal Investigator: Robert G. Rychtarik, Ph.D.
Summary: No interventions involving the spouse of treatment-seeking pathological gamblers have been systematically developed and evaluated. The dearth of spouse-involved treatment research with this population is in marked contrast to a growing body of research documenting the added efficacy of spouse involvement, and in particular, Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT), for other addictions. This project will lay the ground groundwork for a systematic program of research on BCT for pathological gambling by (a) developing a manualized BCT protocol for pathological gamblers, (b) assessing the feasibility of recruiting pathological gamblers and their intimates for BCT, and (c) conducting a pilot evaluation of the efficacy of the BCT with pathological gamblers. The results, together with recruitment and manualized treatment protocol experiences, will serve as the groundwork upon which to design and build a National Institutes of Health (NIH) application proposing a large-scale, more controlled evaluation of spouse-involved treatment for pathological gambling.
Status: Ongoing.
LABORATORY-BASED ASSESSMENT OF IMPULSIVITY IN
PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLERS ENTERING TREATMENT
Award: $56,383
Sponsoring Organization: University of Connecticut Health Center
Principal Investigator: Nancy Petry, Ph.D.
Summary: Impulsivity is considered to be one of the most prominent features of pathological gambling (PG), and several studies have found correlations between PG and self-reported impulsivity. However, few studies have examined the measurement of impulsivity among gamblers in ways other than self-report, and no studies have systematically examined the effect of impulsivity on treatment outcome. This study aims at 1) comparing pathological gamblers (PGs) with control participants on self-report and laboratory-based measures of impulsivity; 2) comparing PGs with and without substance abuse histories on impulsivity scores; and 3) studying whether impulsivity is associated with treatment outcomes in PGs. The hypothesis is that that scores on some measures of impulsivity will be associated with gambling problems, including greater severity of gambling problems, co-occurring substance abuse and poorer gambling treatment outcomes.
Status: Ongoing
GUIDED SELF-CHANGE FOR TREATING PROBLEMATIC CO-MORBID
GAMBLING AND ALCOHOL PROBLEMS AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS
Award: $57,384
Sponsoring Organization: The University of Memphis
Principal Investigator: James P. Whelan, Ph.D.
Summary: Today’s college students have grown up in a culture where gambling has been increasingly available, popularized and romanticized. While the actual rate of recreational and disordered gambling is being reconsidered, many college students are gambling and experience problems due to their frequent gambling. Furthermore alcohol consumption and gambling are found to be co-occurring activities for many college students. This project will conduct a randomized clinical trial of a treatment that addresses both alcohol and gambling problems among college students. The treatment is a modification of Guided Self-Change intervention, which is one of the most well supported brief treatments for alcohol and other substance abuse problems.
Status: Ongoing
ALCOHOL AND GAMBLING TYPES: MOTIVATION AND CUE
REACTIVITY
Award: $172,500
University of Washington
Principal Investigator: Edward Gottheil, MD, Ph.D.
Summary: The aims of this study are: 1) To compare relationships between gambling experience and arousal (self-reported and electrodermal) in response to three specific types of gambling-related visual cues (machine, cards, sports betting). 2) To compare relationships between alcohol use and gambling experiences and arousal in response to visual alcohol and gambling cues. 3) To explore relationships among gambling motives (e.g., social, excitement, escape/coping, competition), specific gambling experiences, and cue arousal. 4) To compare the effects of electrodermal feedback during cue exposure with no feedback on readiness to change.
Status: Ongoing
A SURVEY OF THE PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING TREATMENT
WORKFORCE
Award: $168,941
University of Iowa, The Prairielands Addiction Technology Transfer Center
Principal Investigator: Anne Helene Skinstad, Ph.D.
Summary: Disordered gambling behavior is a public health problem that demands effective, evidence-based responses from the prevention and treatment communities. However, little is known about the professional workforce charged with preventing and treating problem gambling. A complete understanding of the providers’ demographic characteristics, professional qualifications, training needs, and readiness to adopt evidence-based practices is essential in order to develop and deliver relevant training to support and improve their important work. A fundamental understanding of the composition and needs of the workforce will also provide critical information to researchers by describing current treatment paradigms and conditions. This information will lay the foundation for research-practice collaborations that will eventually advance the science of treatment in the U.S. The project will develop and field a workforce survey to collect data from a national sample of professionals who treat people with problem gambling and related behaviors. Data collected from this pioneering survey will help form a strategy for the design and development of an evidence-based curriculum for delivery to gambling treatment professionals.
Status: Ongoing
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