A sample of some of the most innovative studies funded by the NCRG are listed below. To learn more about other NCRG-funded studies, visit our “Find a Study” page in our Research Library. Please visit this section again for regular updates.

Estimating the Prevalence of Disordered Gambling Behavior in the United States and Canada: A Meta-analysis
The NCRG awarded its first grant in 1996 to Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addictions for this meta-analysis, led by Howard Shaffer, Ph.D., director of Harvard’s Division on Addictions. The study examined 120 prevalence studies and produced the first reliable national estimates of the problem. According to the study, between 1.14 percent and 1.60 percent of the adult population could be classified as having pathological problems incident to gambling. The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences praised the meta-analysis for providing “the best current estimates of pathological and problem gambling among the general adult U.S. population and selected subpopulations” in Pathological Gambling: A Critical Review (1999).

The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health in 1999 and an updated version was released in 2001 in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

Double-Blind Study of Naltrexone and Placebo in the Treatment of Pathological Gambling Disorder
This study was the first clinical trial of naltrexone for disordered gamblers. Naltrexone is a drug typically used to dull cravings for alcohol, but Dr. Suck Won Kim and his research team at the University of Minnesota examined the efficacy and safety of naltrexone in the treatment of pathological gambling disorders and hypothesized that its use would reduce uncontrollable urges to gamble and gambling behavior. Kim’s hypothesis was based on clinical and preclinical findings during the period leading up to the study that suggested that opioids could reduce human urges and modulate motivation in animals. Thirty subjects who met criteria for pathological gambling were enrolled in a one-week single-blind placebo lead-in treatment period followed by a twelve-week double-blind naltrexone or placebo treatment. The study’s results showed the naltrexone was effective in stopping cravings and, therefore, stopping the gambling urges. The success of the study led to a grant of $464,463 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to expand the pilot.

The findings of the pilot study were published in Biological Psychiatry and International Clinical Psychopharmacology in 2001.

Youth Gambling: Transition from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
This study investigated developmental issues of youth gambling by building on previous research conducted by lead investigator Ken Winters. This study was one of the first to examine young gamblers’ progression or involvement in gambling as they aged into young adulthood.

The study conducted an assessment of young adults that characterized their long-term gambling involvement and related psychosocial outcomes; examined the relationship of prior underage gambling severity and psychosocial functioning to current young adult outcomes in these domains and evaluated a developmental model of youth gambling involvement. The study provided significant breakthroughs in understanding the course of early onset gambling.

The findings of this study were published Psychology of Addictive Behaviors in 2001.

A Science-Based Framework for Responsible Gaming: The Reno Model
Several years ago, Alex Blaszczynski, Robert Ladouceur and Howard Shaffer met in Reno, Nevada, where the three scientists began a dialogue about the need for a strategic framework to guide responsible gaming policy. Their discussions about how to eliminate the potential harms from gambling continued over time, across the continents and through numerous e-mails, resulting in the paper, “A Science-based Framework for Responsible Gambling: The Reno Model.” The authors urge all the key stakeholders — health providers, scientists, the gaming industry, elected officials, regulators, community organizers and consumers — to find common ground and combine forces to address gambling-related problems. Just as the seminal 1949 Boulder conference on graduate education in clinical psychology established the ‘‘Boulder Model’’ as a guide for training clinical psychologists, the Reno Model is intended to provide a strategic framework to help (1) shape the direction for developing responsible gambling initiatives, and (2) stimulate a rich and enduring dialogue about responsible gambling concepts and related initiatives.

The paper was published in the Journal of Gambling Studies in 2004.

Functional MRI of Neural Responses to Monetary Gains, Losses, and Prospects in Pathological Gamblers and Normal Subjects
Using brain imaging, a research team at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) demonstrated the first linkage of human brain events to ideas from behavioral economics. The research, led by Hans Breiter, M.D., co-director of the Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Center, revealed that monetary rewards tap into a generalized system in the human brain that also processes other categories of reward such as drugs and food. This study was also the first demonstration that a monetary reward in a gambling-like experiment produces brain activation very similar to that observed in a cocaine addict receiving an infusion of cocaine.

The findings were published in Neuron in 2001.