The National Centre for the Study of Gambling (NCSG) is helping to build and secure SA’s capacity for continuously enhancing our understanding of gambling behaviour, with a special but not exclusive focus on knowledge that promises to improve prevention and treatment of problem gambling.

It is headed by Professor Don Ross of the University of Cape Town, with members located at six other universities in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

During the past three years, 20 researchers have participated in varied activities supported by the NRGP:

• National Prevalence Survey
• Longitudinal (panel) study of problem gamblers
• Poverty and gambling study
• Studies in cognition and gambling using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Publications
  

National Prevalence Survey

This is the third such study since the inception of the NRGP in 2000. It is the most comprehensive national survey ever done of gambling behaviour in a developing country. Data collection is complete and data analysis is now underway. A report, in both lay and scientific formats, will be published during 2009. Watch this space!

Longitudinal (panel) study of problem gamblers

Starting in 2009, and extending into 2010, the NCSG is conducting a longitudinal study that will look into the causes of changes in severity of individuals’ problem gambling.

This is a question that has not previously been scientifically studied. It is easier to gain this knowledge in SA than in northern countries because of the more rapid economic and social fluctuations here. This will confirm SA’s place in the ranks of the small group of countries that constitute the forefront of shared international knowledge on how best to implement and sustain responsible gambling.

Poverty and gambling study

This is in the final stages. In early 2009, data on the relationship between poverty and gambling will be gathered from a pari-urban community in KwaZulu-Natal. This is an opportunity to investigate the truth of anecdotes that suggest unusually high rates of purchase of lottery tickets among poorer South Africans. We don’t know whether these rumours are true – soon we’ll have evidence, one way or the other.

Studies into functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Other studies currently being conducted by the NCSG include investigation of the way in which the brain compares present and future rewards using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

This is a key method for testing an important new insight into problem gambling that has come to the fore partly through the efforts of the NCSG team: the group of problem gamblers is made up of two different kinds of people. It includes a small proportion who are truly addicted to gambling, in a way that can be observed in their brains and, in time, perhaps controlled by medication. It also includes a larger group whose problems are less serious, come and go over the person’s lifetime, and are subject to self-control.

Establishing the scientific basis of this distinction will play a major role in moving to optimal policy for reduction of problem gambling.

Publications

Responsible Gambling Digest

The NRGP continues to publish and disseminate the monthly electronic newsletter, Responsible Gambling Digest, which provides readers with a broad overview of international developments in the study and treatment of problem gambling.

Books

In March 2008, MIT Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts) published a major book written by four members of the NCSG team, based on their work for the NRGP. This work, called Midbrain Mutiny: The Picoeconomics and Neuroeconomics of Disordered Gambling, by Don Ross, Carla Sharp, Rudy Vuchinich and David Spurrett, has been predicted to “soon become the standard work for understanding the neuroscientific basis of gambling disorders” by Professor Warren K Bickel, Mills Chair of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention, and Director of the Center for Addiction Research at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Other reports

Lay reports on the poverty, prevalence, panel and fMRI studies for industry, regulators, treatment professionals and the general public will be produced over the course of 2009-2010, to be followed by scientific papers that will be published in journals for the professional research and treatment community in South Africa and abroad.

2005/6: While the number of problem gamblers in South Africa is broadly in line with international norms, there has been a decrease in the past two years in the number of people who have problems with their gambling.

NRGP Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2006 - Click Here

2003: The NRGP’s six-week outpatient programme for problem gamblers achieved a treatment success rate of 75%, according to a Unisa academic study, conducted by Miranda Bulwer, a clinical social worker, who conducted the research for an MA thesis.

After one year 47% of treatment completers were gambling-free and a further 28% reported having relapsed once or twice or that their gambling was controlled. Some 25% of treatment seekers reported that they had reverted to gambling fulltime, leaving the effective success rate of the treatment at 75%.

NRGP Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2003 - Click Here
NRGP Problem Gambling Prevalence Study 2003 Executive Summary - Click Here

2002: The NRGP undertook follow-up research of small groups of regular casino players, horse-racing betters and lottery players in an attempt to ascertain what differences there may be in spending patterns, motivation and vulnerability between different types of gamblers.

2001: Comprehensive baseline study into problem gambling released
The number of people in South Africa with gambling problems is broadly in line with international norms. This was revealed with the release in November 2001 of South Africa's biggest-ever national research project into gambling trends and behaviour. However, the report also found that while gambling in this country is predominantly a middle-income activity, those in South Africa who are gambling regularly are more likely to develop problems than their first world counterparts.

Research - into international best practices and locally conducted - of a qualitative and quantitative type - was carried out before and during the implementation of the NRGP - in collaboration with various research bodies, such as the National Centre for the Study of Gambling at the University of Cape Town.

Research into identifying, preventing and treating problem gambling is ongoing.

Working on the principle that sustainable measures to deal with gambling addiction would only be successful if there were an empirical and scientific body of knowledge about the phenomenon, the National Centre for the Study of Gambling published its first report on the study of the incidence of compulsive gambling in November 2001.

Entitled A National Study on Gaming and Problem Gambling in South Africa, this is the most comprehensive study ever conducted in South Africa into gambling behaviour and trends, and was repeated in 2003 and 2006.

The team has now embarked on the second cycle of research which will provide an updated picture, province by province, of gaming and gambling behaviour throughout South Africa and allow authoritative conclusions to be reached on how the situation relative to problem gambling may or may not have changed.

The research team is also collaborating closely with the treatment and publication arms of the NRGP to review the lessons in terms of effective counselling and prevention to be learnt from the experience of the past.

The team is also developing strategies for integrating focus group research with its pilot programmes for adolescents and senior citizens.

Click here to see other research reports

For further information, contact the executive director, Professor Peter Collins on execdir@responsiblegambling.co.za

If you would like to participate in a research study under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Ron Gold, of the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia - click here.