Experts Find No Rise in Gambling Addiction in the US

Research by University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions conclude there has been no rise in gambling addiction over the past decade.

A recent study shows that, over the past decade, the rate of problem gambling in the US has remained the same despite the diversification of options. These results come to contradict those who believe that American gambling laws should outlaw online casinos, claiming they would cause the number of addicts to grow.

Details of the research have been all over the news this week, being published in both scientific journals and US gambling news, which quoted senior research scientist John W. Welte: “We compared results from two nationwide telephone surveys, conducted a decade apart. We found no significant increase in the rates of problem gambling in the U.S., despite a nationwide increase in gambling opportunities.”

More temptations does not make more addicts

The first telephone survey was conducted in 1999-2000 and it involved 2,613 people. The second time around, between 2011 and 13, 2,963 people were interviewed. Subjects had to answer questions about how often they go to the casino, play the lottery, access online casinos in the US or bet on horse and dog races.

Despite a significant increase in gambling opportunities, the percentage of problem gamblers has remained in the 3.5 to 5.5% range. In fact, the prevalence of problem gambling among women has decreased from 2.9% to 2.5%. Overall participation in gambling has also decreased from 82.2% in 2000 to 76.9% in recent years.

US residents are also gambling less often. A decade ago, they used to play an average of 59.9 days a year, and now that number has dropped to 53.7.