TY - JOUR
T1 - The Australian twin study of gambling (OZ-GAM)
T2 - Rationale, sample description, predictors of participation, and a first look at sources of individual differences in gambling involvement
AU - Slutske, Wendy S.
AU - Meier, Madeline H.
AU - Zhu, Gu
AU - Statham, Dixie J.
AU - Blaszczynski, Alex
AU - Martin, Nicholas G.
N1 - Funding Information:
Wendy S. Slutske and Madeline H. Meier, Department of Psychological Sciences and Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, University of Missouri-Columbia; Alex Blaszczynski, Department of Psychology, University of Sydney; Gu Zhu and Nicholas G. Martin, Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant MH66206. Thanks to Bronwyn Morris, and Megan Fergusson for coordinating the data collection for the twins, and to David Smyth, Olivia Zheng, and Harry Beeby for writing the computer-assisted interviewing software. We appreciate the continued participation of the Australian Twin Registry twins.
PY - 2009/2
Y1 - 2009/2
N2 - Two major challenges to conducting a community-based twin study of pathological gambling (PG) disorder are that: (a) it is relatively rare, and (b) individuals with the disorder in the community may be difficult to locate and recruit. We describe a new study of 4,764 individuals recruited from the Australian Twin Registry in which we attempt to effectively deal with the first challenge and examine the impact of the second challenge. The lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV PG in this Australian twin sample was 2.2%, which is 400-500% higher than has been obtained in prevalence surveys conducted in the United States. A number of predictors of non-participation were identified, including a lifetime PG disorder diagnosis, but these did not have a large net effect on the estimated number of individuals with PG or related characteristics in the twin sample. Results of biometric modeling suggested that the effect of genetic, shared family environmental, and nonshared environmental influences on the propensity to engage in 11 different specific forms of gambling (e.g., playing the lottery, betting on horse or dog races, playing electronic gaming machines) were generally moderate, low, and moderate, respectively, with mean parameter estimates obtained of 43%, 10%, and 46%. An intriguing comparison with results from a 1963 US adolescent twin study conducted by Loehlin and Nichols (1976) suggests that: (a) propensity genes for gambling involvement may be more likely to be expressed in the heavy-gambling Australian culture, or that (b) the family environment has a transient effect on the gambling behavior of young people.
AB - Two major challenges to conducting a community-based twin study of pathological gambling (PG) disorder are that: (a) it is relatively rare, and (b) individuals with the disorder in the community may be difficult to locate and recruit. We describe a new study of 4,764 individuals recruited from the Australian Twin Registry in which we attempt to effectively deal with the first challenge and examine the impact of the second challenge. The lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV PG in this Australian twin sample was 2.2%, which is 400-500% higher than has been obtained in prevalence surveys conducted in the United States. A number of predictors of non-participation were identified, including a lifetime PG disorder diagnosis, but these did not have a large net effect on the estimated number of individuals with PG or related characteristics in the twin sample. Results of biometric modeling suggested that the effect of genetic, shared family environmental, and nonshared environmental influences on the propensity to engage in 11 different specific forms of gambling (e.g., playing the lottery, betting on horse or dog races, playing electronic gaming machines) were generally moderate, low, and moderate, respectively, with mean parameter estimates obtained of 43%, 10%, and 46%. An intriguing comparison with results from a 1963 US adolescent twin study conducted by Loehlin and Nichols (1976) suggests that: (a) propensity genes for gambling involvement may be more likely to be expressed in the heavy-gambling Australian culture, or that (b) the family environment has a transient effect on the gambling behavior of young people.
KW - Australia
KW - Gambling
KW - Genetic
KW - Prevalence
KW - Reliability
KW - Study participation
KW - Twins
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U2 - 10.1375/twin.12.1.63
DO - 10.1375/twin.12.1.63
M3 - Article
C2 - 19210181
AN - SCOPUS:60849105090
SN - 1832-4274
VL - 12
SP - 63
EP - 78
JO - Twin Research and Human Genetics
JF - Twin Research and Human Genetics
IS - 1
ER -