People Living in Poor Neighborhoods More Likely to Gamble

A latest study shows that people living in poor neighborhoods are at a higher risk of problem gambling.

Problem gambling is believed to have negative effects on a person's physical and mental health.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addiction (RIA), interviewed more than 5,000 Americans between ages 14 and 90 years. On evaluating the data gathered through telephonic interviews, the researchers noticed that problem gambling as twice as likely to occur among people belonging to neighborhoods with elevated levels of poverty when compared to those with lowest levels of poverty.

Problem gambling is determined by several symptoms including gambling with increasing amounts of money, continuous unsuccessful efforts to quit or control gambling and preoccupation with various gambling activities, according to a news release.

 Researchers found that in areas with highest neighbourhood disadvantage, nearly 11 percent of them were problem gamblers when compared to 5 percent of the people belonging to the neighborhoods that ranked in the top fifth of economic advantage.

"We found that neighborhood disadvantage had a substantial effect on problem gambling, even after controlling for a person's socioeconomic status, age, gender or race," Grace M. Barnes, PhD, RIA senior research scientist said in a statement. "We also controlled for the convenience of gambling opportunities in these neighborhoods, and our findings were unchanged."

Also those individuals belonging to the lowest socioeconomic status in the poorest neighborhoods were at a higher risk for gambling problems.

Predicting the high rate of gambling in poorer neighborhoods the John W. Welte, PhD, RIA senior research scientist and a study co-author says, "It may be that people who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods do not see many role models of financial success achieved through conventional means. Therefore, gambling may be viewed as one of the few opportunities for financial advancement, and perhaps provides the lure as a means for easily gaining money."

The study was published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.