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Abstract
We examined the role of lottery participation in contributing to gambling-related problems, using a sample of 351 college students who self-identified as frequent gamblers, including a sub-sample of 133 frequent lottery gamblers. Participants completed the DSM-IV based Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity and two cognitive tasks, the Georgia Gambling Task (GGT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Among all individuals, lottery participation predicted gambling-related problems, but this was non-significant among frequent lottery gamblers. Gambling problems were related to number of frequent gambling modalities, but were lessened if one of the modalities was lottery participation and did not relate to the performance measures on the GGT or IGT. We conclude that lottery participation is a marker for gambling-related problems, but that it contributes to gambling problems in only a secondary way and only in the presence of other frequent gambling activity in this population.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health research grant 067827.