The Family
“Pathological gambling is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM- IVTR: Rev. 4th Ed.) as a “persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling behavior that disrupts personal, family, or vocational pursuits” [American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2007, p. 671] (Dowling, Smith, And Thomas 2007).
Family professionals, which includes teachers, social workers, law makers, and counselors would likely agree that pathological gambling definitely is growing quickly, and is often ignored here in the United States. There are five to ten million people here in the United States, about 2 percent of the population, which are considered compulsive gamblers (Abbot, Cramer, and Sherrets 1995).
“The number of compulsive and problem gamblers is anticipated to significantly increase at an accelerated pace for two solid reasons. First, social attitudes toward gambling have changed. The stigma of greed, corruption, and violence that used to be associated with gambling has largely disappeared (Abbot et al 1995).
“For most Americans, gambling is no longer an ethical or moral issue, but is considered a legitimate recreational activity. This shift in public attitude toward gambling has made it more socially acceptable to gamble thus has increased the number of gamblers (Abbot et al 1995).
Next, more states have legalized gambling as a way to bring in revenue, so it is now more accessible to the public, as more and more casinos are being built. Gambling revenue is now viewed as harmless, and a really good way to raise budgets in cities and states without raising taxes on the citizens (Abbot et al 1995).
With the evidence currently available, it has been shown that pathological gambling can have a substantial impact on families. Firstly, the consequences can and often do have a substantial impact on the individual, which can include loss of employment, loss of income and property, loss of health and home, and legal consequences, as well as the impact all these things have on others who associate with the pathological gambler. In turn, this can have a direct and detrimental effect on families.
Secondly, the loss of employment and income can leave families unstable, which can result in instability in the relationships between children and their parents, siblings, and others. This can even lead to maladaptive behaviors, such as unhealthy attachment styles in relationships, commitment issues, trust issues, addictive behaviors, as well as many other things that require stability and security to develop in a healthy way. This can cause a lot of stress on families of pathological gamblers.
“A recent literature review on problem gambling and its impacts on families suggests that the most common problems reported by family members of problem gamblers are: “the loss of household or personal money; arguments; anger and violence; lies and deception; neglect of family; negatively affected relationships; poor communication; confusion of family roles and responsibilities; and the development of gambling problems or other addictions within the family” (Dowling, Smith, and Thomas 2007).
The early investigations of the effects of pathological gambling on the female spouses of male pathological gambling on marital relationships, split this effect into three stages: Denial (rationalizing the gambling behavior, which is pretending that it’s not a problem behavior). Then, there is the stress phase, which, which consists of deficient communication, social isolation, bailouts, and feelings of frustration and resentment. The third is the exhaustion phase, which is intense distress, maladaptive behaviors, bad sexual relationships, somatic illnesses, and the seeking out of professional help (Dowling et al 2007).
Children, due to their extreme emotional and financial dependence, are extremely vulnerable to parental compulsive gambling, according to the available evidence, the children of male problem gamblers have dysfunctional family environments, and that their relationships with their parents are dysfunctional (Dowling et al 2007).
“Specifically, it has been noted that these children are often exposed to financial deprivation, emotional deprivation, physical isolation, inconsistent discipline, parental neglect, parental abuse, parental rejection, poor role modeling, family conflict, and the loss of trust, security, and stability” (Dowling et al 2007).
There have been many mental disorders as well that have been reported by relatives of pathological gamblers (PG).
“In one of the few systematic attempts to collect family history information, Linden et al (1986), calculated a morbidity risk of 17 percent for major mood disorders and 18 percent for alcohol abuse/dependence among 175 first- degree relatives (FDRs) or 25 pathological gamblers. Ramirez et al (1983) reported that 50 percent of 51 pathological gamblers had a parent with alcohol abuse. Roy et al (1988) reported that 33 percent and 24 percent of first- degree relatives of 24 pathological gamblers had mood disorders or alcohol abuse, respectively we recently reported (Black et al, 2003) results from a study of 14 subjects evaluated on the basis of the Family History Research Diagnostic Criteria (FH-RDC); 31 percent of 75 PG relatives had a lifetime alcohol disorder, 19 percent had lifetime major depression, 5 percent had a lifetime drug use disorder, 8 percent had a lifetime generalized anxiety disorder, and 5 percent had an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)” (Black, Monahan, Temkit, and Shaw 2006). From this data we can clearly see some of the possible effects of pathological gambling on the family.
“Psychiatric disorders in general were more frequent among PG relatives than those reported in a sample of control relatives” (Black et al 2006).
The prior data not only illustrates the effects that pathological gambling can have on families, but also the role of heredity. This heredity may be genetic, but also could be due to environmental conditioning. While studies have indicated that gambling behaviors and other addictive behaviors can run in families, it is debatable whether these are genetic or simply learned behaviors.
Socialization most often times will affect children deeply, and at the most vulnerable times in their lives, when they are learning about who they are and about their relationship to the world. The issues previously stated with regard to the effects of pathological gambling can lead to severe psychological and physical problems (somatic) in children and other relatives of PG, thus illustrating the intense effects that problem gambling can have on families.
Works Cited
Abbott, D. A., Cramer, S. L., & Sherrets, S. D. (1995). Pathological gambling and the family: Practice implications. Families in Society, 76(4), 213.
Black, D. W., Monahan, P. O., Temkit, M. H., & Shaw, M. (2006). A family study of pathological gambling. Psychiatry Research, 141(3), 295-303.
Dowling, N., Smith, D., & Thomas, T. (2009). The family functioning of female pathological gamblers. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 7(1), 29-44.
Kalischuk, R. G., Nowatzki, N., Cardwell, K., Klein, K., & Solowoniuk, J. (2006). Problem gambling and its impact on families: A literature review. International Gambling Studies, 6(1), 31-60.
Krishnan, M., & Orford, J. (2002). Gambling and the family: From the stress‐coping‐support Perspective 1. International Gambling Studies, 2(1), 61-83.
Shaw, M. C., Forbush, K. T., Schlinder, J., Rosenman, E., & Black, D. W. (2007). The effect of pathological gambling on families, marriages, and children. CNS spectrums, 12(08), 615-622.
