Chronic Gamblers Get Depressed More Often, Researchers Find in Long-Term Study Results

Chronic Gamblers Get Depressed More Often, Researchers Find in Long-Term Study Results

Other issues, including friendship quality and “socio-family risk,” were also predictive of developing both depression and gambling problems. Socio-family risk encompassed factors such as poverty, becoming a parent as a teenager, and divorce.

Based on the research, Dussault suggested that gambling problems and depression should typically be treated together. He also said that early prevention of gambling issues could be improved by focusing on specific risk factors for individual subjects; for example, someone who has poor friendships may need a different type of intervention than a person with impulsive tendencies.

The research did note some areas in which depression and compulsive gambling appeared to diverge. For instance, strong relationships between children and their parents appeared to reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms, but didn’t necessarily stop gambling tendencies from taking root.