Gambling in Special Populations: Immigrant Status and Disordered Gambling
A growing number of studies have examined the “immigrant paradox” with respect to the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances in the United States. Similarly, researchers have identified specific demographic variables associated with increased risk for disordered gambling, including age, race/ethnicity, marital status, socio-economic status, and marital status. However, to date, little is known about the prevalence rates of disordered gambling among immigrants in the United States. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine multi-generational links between immigration and gambling use among adults in the United States.
Method:
Study findings are based on data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). The NESARC is a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized U.S. residents aged 18 years and older. Psychiatric interviewers administered the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule – DSM-IV version (AUDADIS-IV), which provides diagnoses for an array of mental disorders. Disordered gambling was assessed using five dichotomous (0 = no, 1 = yes) measures from the Pathological Gambling module. Multinomial regression was utilized to compare first-generation (N = 5363) immigrants to nonimmigrants (N = 19,715) as well as second (N = 4,826) and third-generation (N = 4746) immigrants in terms of the prevalence of frequent and problem gambling. Additionally, we compared the prevalence of disordered among immigrants across gender and from major world regions (i.e. Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America).
Results:
Across gender, the lowest prevalence of frequent gambling was observed among first-generation immigrants (men = 24.01%; women = 14.23%). Differences in prevalence between first-generation immigrant men and women and all other groups were significant even when controlling for age, race/ethnicity, household income, education level, marital status, region of the United States, and urbanicity. Additionally, compared to first-generation immigrants, immigrants of subsequent generations and nonimmigrants were roughly 2-2.5 times more likely to report having spent a lot of time either “thinking about when you won or lost” or “gambling, planning bets, or studying the odds.” Compared to first-generation immigrants, male and female immigrants of subsequent generations and nonimmigrants were significantly more likely to report involvement in all problem gambling behaviors examined. Notably, the risk ratios for all problem gambling behaviors examined were greater among women than among men.
Implications:
Findings suggest that gambling prevalence rates increase across subsequent generations, and are more likely to occur in women than among men. These results suggest the importance for clinicians to assess for gambling severity when working with immigrants and their families. Implications for clinical practice and future research directions will be discussed.