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Rapid Onset of Pathological Gambling in Machine Gamblers

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Gambling Studies, March 2002
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

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3 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
policy
2 policy sources
twitter
7 X users
wikipedia
5 Wikipedia pages

Citations

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192 Dimensions

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74 Mendeley
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Title
Rapid Onset of Pathological Gambling in Machine Gamblers
Published in
Journal of Gambling Studies, March 2002
DOI 10.1023/a:1014580112648
Pubmed ID
Authors

Robert B. Breen, Mark Zimmerman

Abstract

A particularly rapid onset of pathological gambling (PG-onset) through the use of gambling machines has been widely alluded to, but this is the first study to empirically examine the phenomenon. This study compared the latency of PG-onset in those who gambled primarily on machines, compared to those who gambled primarily on more "traditional" forms of gambling at PG-onset. Subjects were 44 adult pathological gamblers (PGs) seeking outpatient treatment in Rhode Island (17 females; mean age = 46.9). Subjects completed questionnaires and a diagnostic interview including a complete history of gambling activities and the course of PG. The "latency" of PG-onset was defined as the time (in years) elapsed between the age of regular involvement in the primary form of gambling and the age at which DSM-IV criteria were first met. "Machine" PGs (n = 25) had a significantly shorter latency of onset than did "traditional" PGs (1.08 years vs. 3.58 years). Females and machine PGs had a significantly older age of onset, but gender was not associated with latency of PG-onset. Lifetime comorbidity of either substance use disorders (SUDS) or depressive disorders (DDS) was also not associated with the latency of PG-onset. The results of the current study suggest that intrapersonal variables such as gender and comorbid disorders do not generally affect the speed with which people develop PG. Rather, the social, environmental, and stimulus features of mechanized gambling are implicated. Prospective longitudinal studies on the onset and course of PG are needed, as well as more basic research on the features of machine gambling that may contribute to rapid onset.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 74 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Japan 1 1%
Unknown 73 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 18%
Researcher 10 14%
Student > Master 10 14%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 9%
Student > Bachelor 5 7%
Other 13 18%
Unknown 16 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 26 35%
Medicine and Dentistry 13 18%
Social Sciences 7 9%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 4 5%
Nursing and Health Professions 1 1%
Other 4 5%
Unknown 19 26%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 49. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 July 2023.
All research outputs
#844,602
of 25,305,422 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Gambling Studies
#54
of 987 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#580
of 49,180 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Gambling Studies
#1
of 1 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,305,422 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 987 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 49,180 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them