Gambling and substance use: co-occurrence among adults in a recent general population study in the United States

Abstract

This study is an up-to-date examination of gambling behaviours as well as gambling problems and their relationships to substance use and abuse. Further, the co-occurrence between problem gambling and substance abuse is studied using a large-scale, representative sample of adults aged 18 years and older in the United States. This random-digit-dial national survey was carried out in 2011–2013 with completed interviews from 2963 respondents. Of the four gambling and substance use behaviours considered, past-year gambling was the most prevalent (76.9%), followed by alcohol use (67.6%), tobacco use (28.7%) and marijuana use (11.2%). Problem gambling and the three substance abuse measures were highly related. Current problem gambling (3+DIS criteria) was predicted by being male, being black, having low socio economic status and by alcohol abuse/dependence, tobacco dependence and marijuana abuse/dependence. Thus, problem gambling is linked to other problem behaviours, especially substance abuse. Consequently, effective treatment approaches should screen and intervene for both problem gambling as well as co-occurring substance abuse.

Keywords::

• gambling
• substance use
• co-morbidity
• survey
• United States

Conflicts of Interest

Funding sources: This work was funded by grant R01AA018097 to John W. Welte, from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Competing interests: None of the authors has any competing interests or conflicts of interest.

Constraints on publishing

No potential constraints on publishing was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Grace M. Barnes

Grace Barnes is a sociologist by training and a senior research scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo. She has worked in the field of addictive behaviours (alcohol, other substance abuse and gambling) among adolescents and adults for over 35 years. She has served as PI and Co-PI of a number of large-scale survey research projects. She received the Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology by the American Sociological Association.

John W. Welte

John Welte, a psychologist, is a senior research scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions. He is a leading expert in the study of gambling and substance use. He has published widely on the epidemiology of problem gambling and substance abuse in the general population. He has been the principal investigator on three national US surveys of gambling among adults and adolescents. He has been active in survey research and statistical analyses for over 35 years.

Marie-Cecile O. Tidwell

Marie Tidwell, a psychologist, has been working in the field of addictions research for nearly 20 years. She has been the project director for four national US telephone surveys. She is an expert in computer-assisted telephone interviewing and in survey interviewing and data collection.

Joseph H. Hoffman

Joseph Hoffman is a statistician with over 25 years of experience in statistical analysis, scientific computer programming, mathematical modelling, and data management. He has worked in the addictions field for 20 years, working on a number of projects dealing with substance abuse and gambling.