William F. Wieczorek

Gambling Participation in the U.S.—Results from a National Survey

Demographic patterns of gambling participation in the U.S. were examined. A national telephone survey was conducted with 2,630 representative U.S. residents aged 18 or older. The sample as weighted for analysis was 48% male, 12% black, and 11% Hispanic. Respondents were questioned on 15 types of gambling: how often they played and how much they won or lost. Eighty-two percent gambled in the past year. Lottery was the most commonly played game, while casino gambling accounted for the largest extent of gambling involvement. Men and women were equally likely to gamble in the past year, but men gambled more frequently and had larger wins and losses, particularly on sports betting and games of skill. Blacks were less likely to have gambled in the past year, but blacks who gambled did so more heavily than other racial groups. Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than average to be pathological gamblers. The rate of past year gambling declined with age, but extent of gambling involvement among gamblers did not vary with age. Rates of participation in most forms of gambling increased with socioeconomic status, but higher socioeconomic status gamblers had lower rates of pathological gambling, and lower extent of gambling involvement, particularly for lottery. New Englanders gambled more heavily than other Americans. Comparison with past studies showed an increase in overall gambling participation in the U.S., and large increases in rates of participation in lottery and casino gambling.

The Relationship of Ecological and Geographic Factors to Gambling Behavior and Pathology

The current study examined the effect of neighborhood disadvantage and gambling availability on gambling participation and pathology. A national telephone survey included 2631 US adults. Census data was used to characterize the respondent’s neighborhood, and the distance from the respondent’s home to gambling facilities was calculated. Logistic and linear regressions were performed to predict gambling participation and pathology. Results showed that the neighborhood disadvantage was positively related to frequency of gambling and problem/pathological gambling. The presence of a casino within 10 miles of the respondent’s home was positively related to problem/pathological gambling. The permissiveness of gambling laws was positively related to any gambling in the past year, as well as frequent gambling. These results were interpreted to mean that the ecology of disadvantaged neighborhoods promotes gambling pathology, and that availability of gambling opportunities promotes gambling participation and pathology.

Vulnerability to peer influence: A moderated mediation study of early adolescent alcohol use initiation

Affiliation with deviant peers is a correlate of adolescent alcohol use; however, the mechanism accounting for this association remains unclear, particularly with respect to initiation of alcohol use in early adolescence. This prospective study examines perceived peer attitudes and use as a mediator between peer delinquency and initiation of alcohol use, and how parenting may moderate vulnerability to this risk pathway. Participants included 371 11-13 year-old adolescents (55.5% female, 83.0% Caucasian). Results suggested that high levels of peer delinquency prospectively predicted perceived peer approval and use of alcohol and that peer approval and use of alcohol prospectively predicted initiation of alcohol use. Thus, reinforcement and modeling of alcohol use appear to be important mechanisms by which delinquent peers influence the initiation of drinking. There was no support for parental warmth or control as moderators of peer influence.

Studying Chinese Suicide With Proxy-based Data: Reliability And Validity Of The Methodology And Instruments In China

This study examined the reliability and validity of the instruments as used in the psychological autopsy method in China. With data from 130 informants on 66 completed suicides and 130 informants on 66 normal community controls and 66 controls themselves, the validity was examined by comparing the responses of informants and the responses (gold standards) of the target participants in the control group. All the tested instruments were shown to be reliable, and proxy respondents were generally good judges of targets’ suicidal intention, social support, depression, life events, personality traits, and mental disorders. Additionally, interrater reliabilities of the five interviewers were very good on selected scales. This study has laid a partial foundation for future psychological autopsy projects to be held in Chinese culture.

Psychological Strains and Youth Suicide in Rural China

The strain theory of suicide postulates that suicide is usually preceded by psychological strains. A strain can be a consequence of any of four conflicts: differential values, aspiration and reality, relative deprivation, and lack of coping skills for a crisis. This study, with a blend of psychiatric and social predictors of suicide, identified correlates of suicide that are relevant to Chinese culture and tested the strain theory of suicide with Chinese data. We sampled 392 suicides and 416 living controls (both aged 15-34 years) from 16 rural counties in China in 2008 and interviewed two informants for each suicide and each control. We found that marriage and religion/religiosity did not distinguish the suicides from the living controls among Chinese rural young women. Religion/religiosity tended to be stronger for suicides than for controls. Psychological strains in the forms of relative deprivation, unrealized aspiration, and lack of coping skills were significantly associated with suicide, even after accounting for the role of mental illness. The strain theory of suicide forms a challenge to the psychiatric model popular in the West, at least in explaining the Chinese suicide.

The Impact of Age of Onset of Substance Use on Delinquency

A testable model is developed to examine the link between age of onset of substance use and delinquency. The model predicts that the effect of early substance use on delinquency is indirect through mediating variables—continuing alcohol and drug use, association with delinquent peers, and engaging in deviant activities. The model is tested with use of data from the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men. The data support the model in general. Early substance use is significantly associated with continuing substance use, association with delinquent peers, and engaging in deviant activities, and through these intervening variables, affects delinquency. However, the mediating role of these intervening variables is different. Association with peers and engaging in deviant activities significantly mediate the effect of early substance use on all kinds of delinquency, whereas continuing substance use has modest mediating roles for the effect only on general and index delinquency.

Deviant lifestyle and crime victimization

The present study examined these questions: (1) Does deviant lifestyle lead to victimization? (2) Does victimization lead to deviant lifestyle? (3) Does neighborhood influence the relationship between deviance and victimization? A two-wave panel study of young males was used. Deviant lifestyle was specified as drinking, drug use, and delinquency. Cross-lagged and synchronous SEQ panel models were used. A group analysis was conducted to determine whether the relationship between victimization and deviant lifestyle was affected by neighborhood. Results showed a significant lagged effect and a synchronous effect of deviant lifestyle on victimization. Among young males, deviant lifestyles led to being victimized, both around the same time and eighteen months later. In contrast, crime victimization had a significant synchronous effect on deviant lifestyles, but no lagged effect. Being victimized led to deviant lifestyle around the same time, but not in the future. Finally, group analyses showed marginally that deviant lifestyle leads to crime victimization only in low-crime neighborhoods, although this comparison fell short of statistical significance.

Characteristics of young rural Chinese suicides: a psychological autopsy study.

BACKGROUND Patterns of suicide rates in China differ in many ways from those in the West. This study aimed to identify the risk factors characteristic for young rural Chinese suicides. METHOD This was a case-control psychological autopsy (PA) study. The samples were suicides and living controls (both aged 15-34 years) from 16 rural counties of China. We interviewed two informants for each suicide and each control with pretested and validated instruments to estimate psychosocial, psychiatric and other risk factors for suicides. RESULTS The prevalence of mental disorders was higher among the young Chinese who died by suicide than among the living controls, but was lower than among suicides in the West. Marriage was not a protecting factor for suicide among young rural Chinese women, and never-married women who were involved in relationships were about three times more likely to commit suicide than single women who were unattached. Religion/religiosity was not a protecting factor in Chinese suicide, as it tended to be stronger for suicides than for controls. Impulsivity was significantly higher for suicides than for controls. Psychological strain, resulting from conflicting social values between communist gender equalitarianism and Confucian gender discrimination, was associated significantly with suicide in young rural Chinese women, even after accounting for the role of psychiatric illness. CONCLUSIONS Risk factors for suicide in rural China are different from those in the West. Psychological strain plays a role in suicide. Suicide prevention programs in China should incorporate culture-specific considerations.

Gambling and Problem Gambling in the United States: Changes Between 1999 and 2013

Telephone surveys of US adults were conducted in 1999–2000 and again in 2011–2013. The same questions and methods were used so as to make the surveys comparable. There was a reduction in percentage of past-year gambling and in frequency of gambling. Rates of problem gambling remained stable. Lottery was included among the specific types of gambling for which past year participation and frequency of play declined. Internet gambling was the only form of gambling for which the past-year participation rate increased. The average win/loss increased for several forms of gambling, providing a modest indication that gamblers were betting more, albeit less frequently. Between the two surveys, the rates of past-year participation in gambling declined markedly for young adults. In both surveys, rates of problem gambling were higher for males than females, and this difference increased markedly between surveys as problem gambling rates increased for males and decreased for females. For the combined surveys, rates of problem gambling were highest for blacks and Hispanics and lowest for whites and Asians. In both surveys, the rates of problem gambling declined as socio-economic status became higher. Possible explanations for these trends are discussed.

Youth gangs, drug use, and delinquency

This study addressed the relationship among youth gangs, drug use, and delinquency by focusing on: (1) the effects of prior drug use and delinquency on gang membership; (2) the effect of gang membership on drug use and delinquency; and (3) the interaction effects of prior drug use and delinquency with gang membership on drug use and delinquency. Using data from the first two waves of the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men, the present study assessed these three models. The data indicate that prior delinquency significantly affects gang membership, while prior drug use has no effect on gang membership. Gang membership has an effect on subsequent delinquency and drug use, although its effect on subsequent delinquency is fairly modest. Finally, there are interaction effects between gang membership and prior delinquency/drug use on subsequent delinquency/drug use. The nature of these interaction effects indicate that gang membership has a stronger effect on youths who have not committed delinquency and facilitates drug use only for those who have not used.