Ludens: A Gambling Addiction Prevention Program Based on the Principles of Ethical Gambling

AbstractGambling is legal in most countries. However, despite having some economic benefits, certain characteristics of gambling can have health consequences, rendering it a public health issue. The effects can be summarized according to the following three “laws” of ethical gambling: “Gambling Dynamics Law”: companies’ economic gains come directly from players’ losses; “Expected Loss Law”: the more one gambles, the greater the probability of losing; and “Addiction Law”: the more one gambles, the greater the need to play again, lead ing to further losses. Ludens is a gambling addiction prevention program that has four goals: inform participants about gambling and gambling addiction; sensitize participants to the risk of gambling for health, especially addiction; promote a change in attitudes toward gambling; and alert participa nts to risky behaviors that can lead to addiction. The prevention program was implemented during 2017 to 2019. Fourteen psychologists presented it to 2372 adolescents (48.8% females, 51.2% males) aged 14–19 years, none of whom were university students, recruited from 42 Spanish high schools in 13 2 groups taking different courses. The main dependent variables analyzed were the monthly frequencies of gambling, at-risk gambling, and gambling addiction (as measured by the National Opinion Research Center DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems, adapted to diagnose gambling disorder according to DSM -5, in which pathological gambling is ...
Source: Journal of Gambling Studies - Category: Addiction Source Type: research