Women, Gambling and Problem Gambling

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Women, Gambling and Problem Gambling

• Deborah G. Haskins, Ph.D., LCPC, NCGC-II, BACC
• dghmosaic_at_gmail.com

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Women and Gambling

• Some gambling activities are highly gendered
• Illegal, private
• Horse racing, sports betting
• Bingo
• Some gambling activities are not gendered
• Casinos
• Lotteries
• Gaming machines

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Feminization of Gambling/Problem Gambling

• Feminization refers to the idea that more women
  are gambling, developing problems and seeking
  help for problems related to gambling than in the
  past (Volberg, 2003)
• Appears linked to increased availability of
  gaming machines

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Case Illustration

• Michelle is a 45 year old White female who seeks
  treatment for PG. She is an escape gambler and
  was introduced by a girlfriend (social gambler).
  Mary reports she was in an abusive first marriage
  and has 2 young adult daughters. She regularly
  participates in GA and is now married to 3rd
  husband (also in recovery). She participates
  actively and attends counseling regularly. She
  struggles with major depression and has committed
  many illegal acts, several which are currently
  awaiting trial (2 years ago). She relapses when
  her daughter is about to marry due to shame that
  I cant contribute. She reports her mother was
  an alcoholic and she was raised by her father at
  age 8, but he died as a result of his injuries
  due to a robbery. Where is she now? In
  Prison. What happened?

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History

• Many forms were class based existed among upper
  classeshorses/cards/casino games/real
  estate/stocks(Reith, 1999 Rosecrance, 1988)
• Men were more likely to gamble on stock
  markets/sports/racetrack/off-track
  betting/cockfights and dogfights (Evans, Gauthier
  Forsyth, 1998 Geertz, 1973)
• Women were considered caretakers, nurturers, and
  had social roles not matched w/gambling (Volberg,
  2003)

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Lifetime Gambling Participation
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Past Year Gambling Participation
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Gender Differences in Past Year Gambling
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Understanding Womens Gambling

• Social roles are important
• Acceptability is as important as availability
• Characteristics of gambling venues are important
• Flexible hours
• Local availability
• Low price of participation
• Clean, attractive locations
• Physical safety
• Availability of childcare

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Women and Problem Gambling

• Women have been largely invisible in problem
  gambling research
• Most research based on samples of male
  pathological gamblers (Volberg, 2003)
• Too few females included to determine if
  differences exist
• Widespread assumption that what holds true for
  men will also hold true for women

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The Feminization of Gambling and Problem
Gambling

• More women are gambling and developing problems
  than in the past
• Service providers internationally are seeing more
  women seeking help
• Feminization linked to increases in the
  availability of electronic gaming machines (EGDs)
  (Volberg, 2003)

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Gambling Problems Among Women

• In 1998, 35 of problem and pathological gamblers
  in the US general population were women
• Gerstein et al, 1999
• In states with large numbers of EGDs, the
  proportion of problem gamblers who are women is
  higher
• In Montana, 51 of problem and pathological
  gamblers in 1998 were women
• In Louisiana, 50 of problem and pathological
  gamblers in 1998 were women
• In Oregon in 2000, 45 of problem and
  pathological gamblers were women
• In Australia between 1991 and 1999, the
  proportion of problem gamblers in the general
  population who were women rose from 14 to 41

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Gambling Problems Among Women (contd)

• If women are going to drink, smoke and gamble as
  much and as often as men, we should expect to see
  rates of alcohol abuse and dependence,
  tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, and
  gambling disorders achieve parity between the
  genders (Bunkle, 2003)
• Hing and Breen (2001a, 2001b) suggest that women
  will experience gambling problems at levels
  comparable to men who gamble at the same
  intensity

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Problem Gambling Rates by Gender and
Participation
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Updates

• Women seeking help are more likely to have
  experienced problems with gaming machines than
  with any other type of gambling (Ladd Petry,
  2002 Lesieur Blume, 1991 Potenza et al.,
  2001)
• Across the board, women were more likely to play
  bingo than men men were more likely to wager
  privately and on horses (Volberg, 2003) except
  in Oregon where women waged privately these
  differences may be due to geography, population
  density, or ethnic density

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Considering Gender and Ethnicity

• Problem gambling prevalence rates are two or more
  times higher among minority men and women than in
  majority populations internationally
• What makes some groups particularly vulnerable?
• Bimodal pattern of gambling participation
• Relatively large proportion with little or no
  gambling involvement and significant minority who
  gamble regularly
• Score significantly higher on all problem
  gambling screens
• Pattern is characteristic of subgroups just
  entering gambling market
• As experience is gained, will problem gambling
  rates initially increase, then level out and
  perhaps decline?

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Women Seeking Help

• Women seeking help for gambling problems start
  gambling later in life than men
• Women have more rapid progression into problems
  than men
• Women seeking help are most likely to cite
  electronic gaming machines as their primary
  problem
• Like men, women seeking help often have comorbid
  problems with alcohol and substance abuse as well
  as depression

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Treating Women Problem Gamblers

• 57 of PG Women reported they would not seek care
  for fear counselors would make me stop
  gambling. (R. Boughton 2002)
• Deficits in self-confidence and problem-solving
  skills are common among male and female problem
  gamblers (Borsoi Toneatto, 2003)Both male and
  female problem gamblers rely excessively on
  avoidant coping styles (Thomas Moore, 2003)
• Women do bring some gender-specific issues into
  treatment that must be addressed
• Experiences of trauma and abuse
• Care-giving demands
• Emotional issues with autonomy and rebellion
• Treatment must integrate the above

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Suicide and Pathological Gambling

• Previous Studies
• Thoughts 48 - 79
• Attempts 12 - 20
• Custer Center
• Thoughts 62
• Attempts 26
• Males Thoughts 56 Attempts 23
• Females Thoughts 79 Attempts 35

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Future Directions

• What are the factors that keep women away from
  gambling up to a point?
• What are the factors that facilitate quicker,
  deeper involvement for women?
• How have social attitudes toward gambling changed
  for men and for women?
• Do men and women begin gambling for different
  reasons?
• Do men and women continue gambling for different
  reasons?
• Are deficits in problem-solving skills and coping
  strategies a symptom or a precursor of gambling
  problems?

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Future Directions (contd)

• Women represent a rapidly expanding segment of
  the online gambling population
• Online gambling characterized by
• Flexible hours
• Local availability
• Low price of participation
• Clean, attractive location
• Physical safety
• Availability of childcare
• Similar characteristics may lead to growing
  numbers of women experiencing difficulties with
  this new, very private form of gambling

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References/Resources

• Gerstein, D. R., Volberg, R. A., Harwood, H.,
  Christiansen, E. M., Murphy, S., Toce, M.
  (1999). Gambling Impact and Behavior Study
  Report to the National Gambling Impact Study
  Commission. Chicago National Opinion Research
  Center, University of Chicago.
• Ladd, G. T. Petry, N. M. (2002). Gender
  differences among pathological gamblers seeking
  treatment. Experimental and Clinical
  Psychopharmacology 10(3), 302-309.
• National Council of Problem Gambling, Washington,
  DC.
• Volberg, R. A. (2003). Has there been a
  feminization of gambling and problem gambling
  in the U.S? Gambling The electronic journal of
  gambling issues., 1-33.