Browsing by Author "Wood, Robert T."

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    Factors Influencing the Development of Responsible Gambling: A Prospective Study (Update November 5th, 2004)
    (Alberta Gaming Research Institute, 2004-11-05) el-Guebaly, Nady; Hodgins, David C.; Smith, Garry J.; Williams, Robert J.; Williams, Vickii; Schopflocher, Don P.; Wood, Robert T.; Pickup, Mark
    Gambling is a normative activity in the Alberta population, with 82% of the adult population having gambled in the past year. Although the large majority of Albertans gamble responsibly, there is a small percentage that experience significant problems. The design of effective educational and legislative strategies to minimize the harm caused by gambling hinges on understanding the factors that promote responsible gambling and/or make people susceptible to problem gambling. Longitudinal studies are the optimal methodology for investigating such questions. This methodology has been used extensively and successfully in the fields of health, mental health, sociology and addiction. Unfortunately, there exist virtually no longitudinal studies of gambling. It is this important gap in the research literature that provided the impetus to assemble a cross-disciplinary and cross-university Alberta research team to develop the present proposal.
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    The Proportion of Gaming Revenue Derived from Problem Gamblers: Examining the Issues in a Canadian Context
    (Blackwell Publishing Limited, 2004-12) Williams, Robert J.; Wood, Robert T.; School of Health Sciences; School of Health Sciences; University of Lethbridge
    The legitimacy of government-sponsored gambling and its continued expansion depends in part on the impact that gambling has on society and the extent to which gambling revenue is derived from vulnerable individuals. The purpose of the present article is to try to establish a valid estimate of the proportion of gaming revenue derived from problem gamblers in Canada. Using recent secondary data collected in eight Canadian provinces, we estimate this proportion to be 23.1%, compared to a problem gambling prevalence rate of 4.2%. This estimate must be seen as tentative, however, as self-reported expenditures are 2.1 times higher than actual provincial gaming revenues.