Principal Investigator: Susan Marie Ferguson, PhD, Seattle Children’s Research Institute
Awarded $34,500 in 2018
Aim: Better understand impulsivity as it contributes to Gambling Disorder through study of rats.
Principal Investigator: Jatin G. Vaidya, PhD, University of Iowa
Awarded $34,500 in 2018
Aim: Assess distinct aspects of impulsivity in adolescents (12 to 17 years old who have at least one biological parent with a Gambling Disorder).
Principal Investigator: Susanna L. Fryer, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Awarded $149,500 in 2018
Aim: Advance understanding of extent to which functioning of reward circuitry is similar or distinct in gambling disorder with and without co-occurring depression.
Principal Investigator: Nathan Smith, University of Florida
Awarded $2,000 in 2019
Aim: The aim of this analysis is to describe the relationship between social isolation, gambling participation and gambling problems in children aged 10-17. This includes providing data on prevalence rates of gambling participation, age of gambling onset, and prevalence of gambling problems. Finally, the study will attempt to address if gambling disorder behaves more similar to socially encouraged addictive behaviors such as alcohol use or more similar to isolationary addictive behaviors such as opioid misuse.
Principal Investigator: Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim, University of Calgary
Awarded $2,000 in 2019
Aim: This dissertation aims to examine an understudied, yet important concept known as addiction substitution. Addiction substitution occurs when an individual who recovers from one addiction (e.g., gambling) subsequently increases the use of a secondary addictive behavior (e.g., alcohol). The aim is to address this empirical gap by examining the process of addiction substitution (i.e., how, why) among people who have recovered from gambling.
Principal Investigator: Rory A. Pfund, University of Memphis
Awarded $395 in 2019
Aim: The specific aim of the proposed study is to determine whether there is a relation between the received dose and therapeutic outcome of face-to-face psychological treatments for gambling disorder. The hypothesis is that there is no relation between the received dose and therapeutic outcome in face-to-face psychological treatments for gambling disorder. That hypothesis will be tested using meta-analysis because it will allow for the quantitative synthesis of results from past studies.
Principal Investigator: Samuel C. Peter, University of Memphis
Awarded $800 in 2019
Aim: The primary aim of this dissertation is to test whether static or interactive motivationally-based online messages can result in a higher rate of frequent gamblers completing an online gambling disorder screener when compared to a control message inviting gamblers to take the screener. It is hypothesized that individuals randomly assigned to one of the two motivationally-based approaches will be more likely to complete the problem gambling screener compared to those receiving a control message without motivational content.
Principal Investigator: Jessica Caballero, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Awarded $ 2,000 in 2019
Aim: Abnormal control of execution and inhibition of behaviors is a major contributor to problems like gambling and addiction. People that have problems controlling the execution and inhibition of behaviors are often impulsive and constantly seek the reward they are after. The prelimbic (PL) and the infralimbic (IL) subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and their projections to the nucleus accumbens core (NACc) and sell (NACsh) have been strongly implicated in the behavioral execution/inhibition balance. The aims of this animal study are: 1) Determine PL and IL influence over response execution and inhibition; and 2) determine circuitry mediating the execution and inhibition of reward seeking behaviors.
Principal Investigator: Jeremiah Weinstock, PhD, Saint Louis University
Awarded $172,354 in 2019
Aim: Develop and test efficacy of a novel mHealth app that will capitalize on smartphones’ global positioning software that recognizes a user’s location; in this case, a favorite gambling location.
Principal Investigator: Steven D. Shirk, PhD, New England MIRECC
Awarded $34,035 in 2019
Aim: Better understand the clinical profile of homeless veterans and how it relates to problem gambling behavior.
