Gambling Addiction May Be Part of Our DNA, UBC Study Shows

Problem gambling is a serious concern across the gaming world, spreading both in the online and land-based gaming fields. The University of British Columbia issued a new psychology study, showing that individuals struggling to overcome gambling addiction might be genetically predisposed to developing compulsive gambling in their adult life. Arguments in support show that compulsive gamblers’ siblings show a similar lack of impulse control.

Gambling is a preferred pastime activity for people around the world, as it offers them an outlet, as well as a chance to live their best life. Very few of them realize that they might have an issue, as often their gaming habits might not be the healthiest possible. Maintaining a healthy relationship with both online and brick-and-mortar gambling is essential for its longevity. The University of British Columbia recently revealed its latest study on problem gambling tendencies.

Siblings Prove Being More Impulsive

It aimed to put things into perspective and broaden the scope of research, including the siblings of people struggling with compulsive gambling. For the first time ever, the study closely observed siblings and their impulsivity, risk-taking tendencies, as well as other changes in the decision-making process, associated with problem gambling. The study’s ultimate goal was to seek a genetic predisposition to spiraling out of control.

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Eve Limbrick-Oldfield, a postdoctoral research fellow at the UBC department of psychology and Centre for Gambling Research, confirmed that siblings of individuals reporting gambling addiction have shown similar patterns when it comes to making impulsive decisions and taking risks on a regular basis. Such insight was essential, as the researched individuals have similar upbringing as the gambling addicts, as well as a resemblance in their genetic material.

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The study aimed to challenge the existing notion that early experience and exposure to gambling activity and offering to the likes of lottery tickets make a kid prone to gambling addiction in their adult years. The Center for Gambling Research revealed that gambling disorder might be something people carry in their genetic code.

Problem Gambling Needs More Research

As many as 20 individuals struggling with gambling addiction participated in the study, joined by their 16 siblings willing to aid the research process. In addition to them, researchers also worked with a control group of individuals that have not shown addictive tendencies. The focus was on the process of risk-taking, as well as the level of impulsivity when it comes to making choices.

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Moreover, the study also monitored brain activity while playing slot games via a brain scan in an MRI. This offered real-time brain feedback following a major prize win. Problem gambling siblings proved to be more likely to make a risky impulsive move than the control group of people. In addition to that, gambling addiction itself has a notable impact on the brain, as the siblings failed to demonstrate changes in their neural response to rewards.

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Back in March, the British Columbia government announced it will pour some CA$1.36 million over the following five years into the Centre for Gambling Research. Its operation commenced and the initial allocation of CA$2 million. Since then, as many as 35 research papers have been issued.