UB Researcher to Study Gambling Trends
Are Americans gambling more and developing more gambling problems? Do gambling problems tend to concentrate in disadvantaged neighborhoods? What has been the impact of increased Internet gambling, NCAA pools, Fantasy Football and poker tournaments?
These are some of the questions John W. Welte, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions, intends to answer in a new research study called “Problem Gambling — A Decade of Change.” Welte previously conducted the groundbreaking 1999-2000 investigation of problem and pathological gambling that provided answers about U.S. adult gambling frequency, locations and consequences.
With the award this month of a $3 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Welte will conduct a second national telephone survey of adults to learn about gambling trends during the past decade. Additionally, the new survey will include the relationship between respondent gambling and neighborhood characteristics, the distance traveled to gambling facilities and the permissiveness of state gambling laws. It will also gather information about growing forms of gambling such as Internet gambling, fantasy football and Texas Hold’em poker. Read more.
