Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 24, 2004|Volume 33, Number 4

Study: Recreational gambling
can be good for seniors' health

Unlike younger recreational gamblers who show high rates of alcohol use and abuse, depression, bankruptcy and incarceration, there appears to be an association between recreational gambling and good health among elderly persons, according to a Yale study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Rani Desai, associate professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, says it is not clear why there is a positive correlation of good health in moderate gamblers 65 years and older. It may be, she suggests, that healthier adults who are able to gamble are simply healthier to begin with. There may be other reasons as well, Desai says.

"Although the underlying reasons remain hypothetical, proposed reasons included the increased activity, socialization and cognitive stimulation that are related to engaging in gambling," Desai and her co-authors said. "Such a mechanism would be consistent with the literature on healthy aging, which indicates that more socially and cognitively active elders are, in general, healthier."

The Gambling Impact and Behavior Study by Desai and her colleagues involved telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2,417 adults. They compared the health status of recreational gamblers who had gambled in the past year with persons who had not gambled. Their health, which was self-reported, was measured according to alcohol use, abuse and dependence; substance abuse and dependence; depression; mental health treatment; subjective general health; incarceration and bankruptcy. They also compared gamblers 18-64 years old with gamblers 65 and older.

Despite their findings, Desai says it is important to continue to monitor gambling behaviors in older adults since the activity can become highly addictive. Older gamblers tend to favor non-strategic games, such as the lottery, bingo, keno and slot machines, which are particularly addictive, according to Desai. Also, older gamblers are more likely to be living on fixed incomes and the effects of gambling could be financially devastating to them, she says.

Co-authors of the study include Paul Maciejewski, David Dausey, Barbara Caldarone and senior author Dr. Marc Potenza, all from Yale.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Grant to support research on role of viruses in cancer

Series honors graduation of Yale's first Chinese student 150 years ago

Program marks 35th anniversary of Afro-American Cultural Center

Study: Recreational gambling can be good for seniors' health

Yale launches $1 million United Way drive

Symposium to explore past and future of suburbanization

Event honors late historian of American South

New bioscience company at Science Park offering . . .

Exhibit showcases work of long-ignored landscape artist

Mayhew lauded for his studies of party politics

Congress' only Holocaust survivor to discuss . . .

Noted playwright to speak about his life, Jewish religion

Prize-winning poet Adrienne Rich will read from her work

Older marathon runners are making greater strides . . .

Cultivating a culture of trust was topic of inaugural conference

Dwight Hall interns devote the summer to causes in New Haven

Reimbursements now available through direct deposit

IN MEMORIAM