Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008

7/31/2019 Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008

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gambling

research

reveals

T Alrta Gaig Rarc

Ititut i a crtiu

t Uivriti Alrta,

Calgar, a Ltrig.

It priar purp i

t upprt a prt

rarc it gaig agalig i t prvic.*

ourmission

T igifcatl iprv

Alrta kwlg

w galig act cit

Does the general public attacha stigma to disordered gambling?One o the enduring mysteries surrounding problem gambling is to understand why

only one in ten individuals struggling with this condition will seek treatment. One

suggested explanation or this reluctance to seek treatment is because o stigmaThough stigma has long been considered a major barrier to treatment in the broade

mental illness feld, there have been ew studies examining the degree to which stigma

exists with respect to gambling. A crucial research step in our attempt to bette

understand stigma and gambling is being undertaken by Ph.D. student Jenny Horch a

the University o Calgary. Her research seeks to establish whether stigma towards prob

lem gamblers actually exists, rather than

merely being perceived by gamblers or the

general public.

What was it that sparked

your interest in stigma anddisordered gambling?

HORCH: Stigma interested me because

it is a construct with broad applica-

bility and because stigma has become

a social policy buzzword despite the lim-

ited and sometimes methodologically

weak research base. I ound the overlap

o stigma and disordered gambling par-

ticularly exciting as it is a new area o

research. Researchers have only recently

suggested that stigma impacts disorderedgamblers, although it has long been con-

sidered with regards to mental illness in

general. At the time I initiated my study

there were no studies examining the de-

gree to which stigma existed. Instead

gamblers and non-gamblers had only been

asked whether they thoughtthe condition

was stigmatized.

VoLUme 7 / IssUe 3ebRUARy / mARCh 2008

WHAT IS STIGMA?

Mental illness stigma

has been defned as

the devaluation o a perso

in a particular social con-

text based on the perceive

presence o a negative

attribute or social identity

(Crocker, Major, & Steele,

1998). Researchers have

dierentiated betweenpublic stigma (stigma held

by the general public) and

private or sel-stigma (the

internalization o public

stigma; Corrigan, 2004).


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Some people become amiliarwith disordered gambling throughexposure to the media... but canthese portrayals be problematicwith respect to public stigma?

HORCH: Stout, Villegas & Jennings (2004)

indicate that little is known about the me-

dias role in perpetuating or reducing mental

illness stigma, but note that research con-

sidering the impact o the media on stig-

ma towards mental health conditions has

revealed misinormation, inaccurate use

o psychiatric terms, and unavorable

stereotypes o people with mental illness.

Persons with mental illness are requently

depicted as being unlikable, inadequate,

unemployable, and dangerous. I am unaware

o any studies considering the portrayal o

disordered gamblers in the media, although

there are movie titles that come to mind.

Results o our research indicate that most

people (89.6%) have viewed a television

show or movie depicting an individual with

disordered gambling. Fewer have watched

a documentary regarding the condition

(39%). Documentaries are more likely to

contain accurate inormation regardingdisordered gambling whereas other sources

o media may glamorize gambling or viliy

problem gamblers.

Problem gamblers are a difcultgroup or the general public to

identiy... would this make anydierence with respect to publicstigma?

HORCH: This is a very important point.

Disordered gambling is very difcult to iden-tiy and or this reason many may choose to

conceal the problem. Cues that an individu-

al belongs to a social category may include

symptoms, physical appearance, social skills

defcits, or labels (Corrigan & Kleinlein,

2005). Thus, or problem gamblers, labels

may be the only salient cue. These are gen-

erally conerred on individuals by mental

health proessionals, which is why avoiding

treatment becomes a problem.

Secrecy as a coping strategy has been oun

to hurt more than help in individuals with

other mental illnesses (Link, Mirotznik

& Cullen, 1991). However, just becaus

problem gamblers are hard to identiy doe

not change the act that public stigm

exists, and does not mitigate its negativ

eects.

It may be that discrimination agains

an individual does not occur until they ar

labeled, however, this does not alleviat

the impact on unidentifed individuals

Furthermore, a more insidious consequenc

o public stigma is its impact on sel-stig

ma. Unlabeled individuals may sel-identiy

as belonging to the category problem gam

bler and apply all the negative belies to

themselves without members o the publi

doing so.

Participants in your researchinvestigation were all universitystudents. Do these individuals di-er rom the general public in thei

perception o problem gamblers?

HORCH: It is quite possible that a university

sample may not perceive problem gambler

as the general public does. I intend to rep

licate this study with a community sampl

or my dissertation. However, I would not

that I expect university students have mor

avourable attitudes towards problem gam

blers than the general public as they ar

typically a younger and more liberal cohort

As such, this study is likely conservativ

and may underestimate stigma as opposed

to overestimate it.

Are there any positive aspectsassociated with stigma odisordered gambling? Does asocietal stigma provide a kind owarning signal about gambling?

HORCH: This is an interesting question, and

it has been raised previously. Sally Sate

(2007) raised this issue and suggested tha

stigma associated with addictions may als

serve as a deterrence to the development o

Canadian Mental Health

Commission to be basedin Calgary

In September 2007,Federal Health MinisterTony Clement announced

that Calgary will be theheadquarters or a newCanadian Mental HealthCommission. The commis-sion will be chargedwith reducing stigmaaround mental illnessand creating a Canadianstrategy in the area.


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an addiction and may motivate individuals

to resolve their problems independently i

not to seek treatment. There certainly does

not appear to be any research determining

whether individuals averted the develop-

ment a gambling problem due to ear opublic reprisal. This would be an interesting

research question.

I tend to disagree with the idea that stigma

is helpul, particularly or individuals who

have already developed a gambling prob-

lem. There is a substantial literature linking

stigma to decreased treatment seeking in

individuals suering other mental illness,

and judging or shoulding people is not

an eective way to motivate change. I am

undecided as to whether stigma is helpulin discouraging the developmento problem

gambling.

How might your research study berelevant to increasing treatment

seeking or disordered gambling?

HORCH: Problem gamblers do report

stigma as a reason or reduced (Hodgins

& el-Guebaly, 2000) and delayed (Tavares,

Martins, Zilberman, & el-Guebaly, 2002)

treatment seeking. While our study is not

directly linked to treatment seeking, it is a

frst step towards establishing that stigma

towards problem gamblers does, in act,

exist, rather than merely being perceived

by gamblers or the general public. Our

results highlight the importance o in-vestigating this topic urther and provide

quantitative data in terms o attitudinal

social distance rather than simply survey-

ing i individuals perceive stigma associ-

ated with disordered gambling.

A necessary next step is to examine problem

gamblers awareness o stigma and whether

or not they sel-stigmatize (i.e., internalize

public stigma and apply it to themselves)

as this may have a more direct relation-

ship with treatment seeking. Increasingtreatment seeking could (and should) be

approached rom two angles. A reduction

in public stigma may lead to changes

in social policy and result in increased

unding or problem gambling research.

Reducing sel-stigma may increase an

individuals sense o sel-efcacy and

confdence in their ability to change.

Reducing either public or sel-stigma will

likely increase treatment seeking.

Research investigationrelated to disorderedgambling stigma

The paper Public Stigmao Disordered Gambling:

Social Distance, Danger-ousness, and Familiarityby Jenny Horch andDr. David Hodgins hasbeen accepted orpublication in theJournal of Social and

Clinical Psychology.

It reports the fndingsrom Horchs Masters

thesis entitled PublicStigma o DisorderedGamblers: Social DistanceDangerousness, Control-lability, and Familiarity.The investigation involveduniversity students (117male, 132 emale) whorated vignettes describ-ing males with fve healthconditions (schizophre-

nia, alcohol dependence,disordered gambling,cancer, and a no diagnosicontrol with subclinicalproblems) on a measure oattitudinal social distanceDisordered gambling wasound to be more stigma-tized than the cancer andcontrol conditions.

Jenny Horch is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Calgary who is presently com-

pleting a program of study on the topic of disordered gambling stigma under the su-

pervision of Dr. David C. Hodgins.


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ALbeRTA GAmInG ReseARChInsTITUTe boARd o dIReCToRs

Dr. Nady el-Guebaly, Chair,University of Calgary

Dr. Jo-Anne Fiske, Universityof Lethbridge

Dr. Andre Plourde,University of Alberta

Dr. Chris Hosgood,University of Lethbridge

Mrs. Sheila Murphy, PublicMember

Dr. Erin Gibbs Van Brunschot,University of Calgary

Dr. Dan Mason,University of Alberta

exeCUTIVe dIReCToR

Vickii Williams([email protected])

node CooRdInAToRs

University of Alberta:Dr. Garry Smith([email protected])

University of Calgary:Dr. David Hodgins([email protected])

University of Lethbridge:Dr. Robert Williams([email protected])

InsTITUTe LIbRARIAn

Rhys Stevens([email protected])

Your comments and queries are welcomeeither by e-mail: [email protected]: 780.492.2856

Jenny Horch andRhys Stevens Writers

Vickii Williams Editor

Epigrafx Design/Layout

Media queries 780.492.2856

* The Institute is unded by the Albertagovernment through the Alberta LotteryFund.

ISSN 1499-2639 (Print) AGRI 2008ISSN 1499-2647 (Online)

Gaming Resources @ The WinspearBusiness Reerence LibrarybyAngela Binnie

With its ocus on the industrial, organiza-

tional, managerial, and economic aspects o

the gaming industry, the Winspear Business

Reerence Library at the University o Alberta

supports the research goals o the Institute

by developing and maintaining multi-aceted

print and online collections. Notably, the

library houses a strong core o industry

standard reerence materials.

Examples o these gaming-related reerence

titles include: Casino City Press gaming almanacs and directories.

Recent editions of the Internet Gambling Reportwhich describe the legal an

political climate concerning Internet gambling as well as related business issue

such as taxation, electronic transer o unds, security and enorcement.

The Indian Gaming Industry Report which analyzes the state o the Indian

Gaming Industry in the United States with respect to economic impact, revenues

and industry trends.

In addition to its reerence titles, the Winspear Librarys circulating collection o

gaming-related materials also includes various historical accounts, government documents

biographies, electronic journals, and audio-visual materials. Individuals with gamingrelated research inquiries are welcome to contact sta in person at the library, by phon

(780-492-5652) or via email [email protected].

Documents

Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008