A CALL TO ACTION Addressing College Gambling: Recommendations for Science-Based Policies and Programs

The Division on Addictions at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Teaching Affiliate of Harvard Medical School, established The Task Force on College Gambling Policies (“task force”) in 2008 to help colleges reduce gambling problems among students, and enable students who are struggling with addiction to fully participate in college life.

After a review of the scientific literature and careful consideration of college student behavior and the realities of implementing new policies on campus, the task force developed 10 recommendations for policies and programs. The task force offers these recommendations not as a one-size-fits-all prescription but as guidelines broad enough to accommodate the great diversity of the nation’s colleges and universities.

Quantitative Data Highlights

• College Policies

• • 30% or less of schools have policies designed to promote recovery from addictive disorders.

• Co-occurring disorders
  • 6 times more likely to be dependent on alcohol or drugs
  • 4.5x times more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs
  • 50% had experienced a mood disorder
  • 41% had experienced an anxiety disorder (ie, phobia, social phobia or generalized anxiety),
  • 60% had experienced a personality disorder (ie, antisocial personality disorder, schizophrenia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Youth
  • Scientists have learned that the human brain continues rapid development until the end of adolescence (puberty until mid-twenties).

Identified Risk Factors

• Co-occurring disorders.
• Adolescence (brain in development until mid-twenties).
• Binge drinking.

Identified Protective Factors

• Evidence based gambling policies.
• Education and recovery support.

Qualitative Data Highlights

• Co-occurring disorders
  • Research has shown that most individuals with gambling problems have co-occurring psychiatric problems.
  • Gambling and gambling problems among this age group are highly correlated with other risky behaviors, including binge drinking.
• College policies

• • Many cases, policies only seek to punish violators of the rules, not help students with potentially damaging emotional and physical problems.
  • Lack of gambling policies, and the predominance of prohibitive and punitive policies over recovery-oriented policies, signify missed opportunities to inform students about the risks of excessive gambling, and promote rehabilitative measures that can reduce addictive behaviors among students and support student persistence.
  • College policies vary from school to school and are not always grounded in empirical research.

Identified Challenges

• The academic mission of colleges and universities is to promote learning, which cannot be achieved without a healthy student body.

Identified Recommendations

• Establish a campus-wide committee to develop and monitor a comprehensive policy on gambling.
• Strive for consistency and universal application with prohibitions and restrictions on gambling and alcohol use at special events.
• Promote campus-community collaborations that focus on reducing problems with student gambling.
• Encourage adjustments in disciplinary actions applied to violators of gambling rules if the student seeks assistance from health or counseling services.
• Make reasonable accommodations for students focused on recovery from a problem with gambling.
• Measure student attitudes, behaviors, and problems with gambling through campus surveys or by incorporating such measures into existing campus health-related surveys.
• Promote campus-wide awareness of problem gambling as a mental health disorder that has a high rate of comorbidity with alcohol use and other addictive disorders, and responsible gaming principles.
• Employ evidence-based strategies to identify and help students with gambling problems.
• Strengthen the capacity of counseling services to identify and treat gambling disorders.