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7/31/2019 Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008
1/4
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).
7/31/2019 Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008
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2
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.
7/31/2019 Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008
3/4
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.
7/31/2019 Gambling Research Reveals - Issue 3, Volume 7 - February / March 2008
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4
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].