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Journal of Prevention

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01.06.2010 | Original Research

Stacked Deck: An Effective, School-Based Program for the Prevention of Problem Gambling

verfasst von: Robert J. Williams, Robert T. Wood, Shawn R. Currie

Erschienen in: Journal of Prevention | Ausgabe 3/2010

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Abstract

School-based prevention programs are an important component of problem gambling prevention, but empirically effective programs are lacking. Stacked Deck is a set of 5–6 interactive lessons that teach about the history of gambling; the true odds and “house edge”; gambling fallacies; signs, risk factors, and causes of problem gambling; and skills for good decision making and problem solving. An overriding theme of the program is to approach life as a “smart gambler” by determining the odds and weighing the pros versus cons of your actions. A total of 949 grade 9–12 students in 10 schools throughout southern Alberta received the program and completed baseline and follow-up measures. These students were compared to 291 students in 4 control schools. Four months after receiving the program, students in the intervention group had significantly more negative attitudes toward gambling, improved knowledge about gambling and problem gambling, improved resistance to gambling fallacies, improved decision making and problem solving, decreased gambling frequency, and decreased rates of problem gambling. There was no change in involvement in high risk activities or money lost gambling. These results indicate that Stacked Deck is a promising curriculum for the prevention of problem gambling.

A recent U.S. national study found lower rates of problem gambling in adolescents and young adults compared to all adults (Welte et al. 2008).

A hierarchical multilevel analysis could have been used in recognition of the nested structure of the data (i.e., students within schools). However, while the delivery of the intervention was based in the schools, this was simply a mechanism by which to draw the sample. The focus of the intervention was still primarily on the individual. Furthermore, an individual level analysis is justified considering the lack of any significant community or school effects on program outcomes (see Impact of Mediating Variables on Changes in Gambling Behavior section) and because of the homogeneity of the student population in southern Alberta.

The failure to find unambiguous decreases in problem gambling from baseline to follow-up is likely due to low statistical power. The failure to find significant decreases in gambling monetary losses is partly due to the low average amounts being wagered plus the high variability in these amounts.

The ascertainment of problem gambling in adolescents is an under researched and controversial area (Derevensky et al. 2003). There is good evidence that certain instruments have produced elevated prevalence rates due to measurement error (i.e., South Oaks Gambling Scale and South Oaks Gambling Scale Revised for Adolescents; Ladouceur et al. 2000). The possibility also exists that the instability in problem gambling seen in the present study reflects a measurement problem. A team of researchers under the aegis of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse has been working on the development of a new, well validated instrument for the past several years.

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Titel: Stacked Deck: An Effective, School-Based Program for the Prevention of Problem Gambling
verfasst von: Robert J. Williams
Robert T. Wood
Shawn R. Currie
Publikationsdatum: 01.06.2010
Verlag: Springer US
Erschienen in: Journal of Prevention / Ausgabe 3/2010
Print ISSN: 2731-5533
Elektronische ISSN: 2731-5541
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-010-0212-x

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