Impact of availability on gambling: A longitudinal study

Objective: Legalized gambling opportunities have markedly increased in most industrialized countries. While most authors agree that the rate of pathol ogical gamblers is related to the accessibility of gambling activities, no published studies have yet empirically estimated the impact of the introduc tion of new gambling activities within a longitudinal study. Thus, we evalu ate the impact of the opening of a casino on gambling activities among near by inhabitants. Method: A random sample of 457 respondents from the Hull area (experimental group) and 423 respondents from the Quebec City area (control group) compl eted the South Oaks Gambling Screen and related questions, both before the opening of the Casino de Hull and 1 year late,: Within each household conta cted a resident was randomly chosen by selecting the adult whose birthday w as next. Results: The experimental group exposed to the new casino showed a signific ant increase in 1) gambling on casino games, 2) the maximum amount of money lost in 1 day on gambling, 3) reluctance toward the opening of a local cas ino, and 4) the number of participants who reported knowing a person who ha s developed a gambling problem in the last 12 months. Conclusion: The impact of legalized gambling is discussed in relation to th e availability of gambling.