Save the Date

Mark your calendars now for the 9th Annual National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) Conference on Gambling and Addiction. The conference, themed “The Changing Landscape of Treatment, Responsible Gaming and Public Policy,” will be held Nov. 16-18 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and Las Vegas Convention Center.

The conference program will feature the latest scientific research into new drug treatments for disordered gambling, provide a forum to discuss how responsible gaming programs can be tailored for ethnic minorities, as well as examine how the Internet is changing the face of responsible gaming. The conference will also address the upcoming DSM-V and the possibility of a new clinical definition for pathological gambling. Regular updates on the conference program can be found by visiting www.ncrg.org

What: 9th Annual NCRG Conference, themed “The Changing Landscape of Treatment, Responsible Gaming and Public Policy”

Where: Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

When: November 16-18, 2008

EMERGE: A New Standard for Responsible Gaming Education for Employees

The last session of the NCRG conference introduced EMERGE, an interactive responsible gaming training program designed for gaming employees. Kevin Mullally, General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs, Gambling Laboratories Int., moderated the session and Christine Reilly, Executive Director, Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, presented the EMERGE program.

EMERGE, which stands for Executive Management and Employee Responsible Gaming Education, is the only employee training program developed by Harvard Medical School faculty and one of the first web-based programs.

Mullally pointed out that it wasn't so long ago when research on problem gambling was practically non-existent and people in the gaming industry knew very little about how to define or even talk about problem gambling. Reilly and Mullally both stressed that EMERGE is an important tool as casino employees and industry members strive to protect and promote the health and safety of their customers. Reilly explained that the American Gaming Association's (AGA) Code of Conduct requires member casinos to educate employees and make information available on problem gambling.

Reilly explained that through EMERGE, employees learn how and why people become addicted, the nature and prevalence of gambling disorders, what constitutes responsible gaming and how to respond to requests for information on these issues. She stressed that employees are not trained to approach customers and should not do so even if they think a customer has a problem. Even trained clinicians have difficulty identifying someone with a gambling problem.

The program can be customized for the participating company to ensure the training reflects their responsible gaming practices and policies. She explained that because EMERGE is interactive and web-based, employees can move at their own pace. The program is available online 24/7, so companies can train a large number of employees and it automatically tracks employee participation and quiz results, sending them back to company management.

Reilly gave a demonstration of the EMERGE program, which uses audio, video, photos and graphics to accompany the text. At the end of each "chapter", the employee takes a quiz on what he or she has just learned. Since casino employees may be at higher risk for gambling problems, EMERGE is also a way to educate the employee and let them know where to seek help if the program raises questions about their own behavior or that of a family or friend.

Outstanding Poster Award Presentation

Dr. Richard LaBrie of Harvard Medical School's Psychiatry Department presented this year's Outstanding Poster Award to the University of Sydney's Alex Blaszczynski and Sally Monaghan for their study entitled Pop-up Messages on Electronic Gaming Machines: Effect on Gambling-Related Thoughts and Behavior. Blaszczynski is a professor of Clinical Psychology and Monaghan is a DCP/Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney's School of Psychology. Their study found that pop-up messages on electronic gaming machines have more impact on thoughts and behaviors during play than more static messages that occurred after the session had ended.

This year 27 groups submitted posters with empirical research, 17 of which were from countries outside the United States.

Spotlight on Research: Can Medication Manage Disordered Gambling Behavior? Newest Trends in Research

Research indicates a clear relationship between biological vulnerabilities and the development of a gambling disorder. For example, a vulnerability might be insufficient levels of chemicals – or neurotransmitters – in the brain that regulate mood and judgment. If the low mood is elevated by an activity like gambling, the person could develop a gambling problem. Furthermore, the simultaneous occurrence of depression and other psychiatric problems with a gambling disorder underlines the importance of exploring drug treatments for pathological gambling.

However, currently there is no treatment standard for disordered gambling and no medication has been approved by the FDA for treating the disorder.

Dr. Jon Grant, associate professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at the University of Minnesota Medical School, has done extensive research in this area. A review essay published in 2006 and co-authored by Dr. S.W. Kim examined the results of studies looking at three types of drugs used to treat pathological gambling – antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and opioid antagonists. Results from some of these controlled clinical trials are promising and could eventually lead to significant improvement in the lives of people struggling with a gambling disorder.

Grant will discuss this research and its important implications for treatment during the conference session Can Medication Manage Disordered Gambling Behavior? Newest Trends in Research, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11. To access Grant’s full study click here, or visit the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders’ NCRG Conference Resource Page. When prompted, please enter the case-sensitive password: institute.

Spotlight on Research: Does Exposure to New Gambling Lead to Gambling Problems?

When states, provinces and local communities are considering introducing new forms of gambling, the “exposure” issue usually arises in public debates about the pros and cons of gambling. The conventional wisdom assumes that increased exposure to gambling opportunities will lead to an increase in the number of people with gambling-related problems. The validity of this assumption is usually unquestioned.

Alternatively, the “social adaption” model proposes that people exposed to new gambling opportunities may initially increase their gambling activities – whether with or without adverse consequences – but, eventually the population will adapt its behavior, leading to lower levels of gambling.

Until now, there have been few empirical studies to test this hypothesis. Dr. Robert Ladouceur, a professor of psychology at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, evaluated the impact of a new casino in Canada’s Hull, Quebec region. Ladouceur and co-author Christian Jacques, conducted a multi-year study on the gambling habits of individuals in that area. They surveyed participants one month before the casino opened, one year after its opening, and then again at the 2-year and 4-year mark. They found the results were surprising.

Ladouceur will discuss his research and its important implications for public health policy during the conference session Does Exposure to New Gambling Lead to Gambling Problems? A Case Study from Canada, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11. To access Ladouceur’s full study click here, or visit the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders’ NCRG Conference Resource Page. When prompted, please enter the case-sensitive password: institute.

Welcome from your Conference Hosts

In less than one month’s time, more than 300 researchers, clinicians, regulators, policymakers and gaming industry representatives from all around the world will gather in Las Vegas at the 8th annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction. Together at this conference, these diverse groups will discuss the latest research about gambling and addiction, and consider how these findings can be adapted into real-world applications for prevention, treatment, education and responsible gaming.

We welcome you to this site and invite you to join us at the international conference, the only gathering of its kind in the U.S. that allows gaming industry and government representatives to engage in dialogue with the world’s leading scientific and clinical professionals.

The 2007 NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction will take place Nov. 11-13, at Paris Las Vegas. This event is sponsored by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) and the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, a program of the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

The theme of this year’s conference, Responsible Gaming, Regulation and Recovery: Testing Conventional Wisdom, calls on attendees to test the “conventional wisdom” about gambling addiction and recovery using the most up-to-date science. Through such dialogue, we can develop more effective policies, regulations, responsible gaming programs and treatment for gambling addiction.

Over the coming weeks, the NCRG conference blog will preview of some of the research and trends that will be covered at the conference. While the conference is in progress, on-site reports will bring you up-to-the-minute details on some of our most compelling sessions and special events. Make sure you receive these updates by signing up for our RSS feed (select an icon in the Subscribe section of the sidebar) to have blog updates automatically delivered to you.

It’s not too late to register for this important event, so please be sure to join us. And if you can’t make it to Las Vegas, we look forward to having you visit us here on the conference blog in the coming weeks.

Phil Satre
Chairman, National Center for Responsible Gaming

Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., C.A.S.
Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Director, Division on Addictions, The Cambridge Health Alliance