Principal Investigator: Martha W. Waller, Ph.D.
The objective of this study is to examine gambling behavior among adolescents and adults across New Mexico with specific focus on subpopulations of race/ethnicity, military involvement, parents of minors, sexual minorities, housing unstable, college students, and opioid abusers. Beyond estimating the prevalence of problem gambling among subpopulations in New Mexico, the goal of this study is to reach a better understanding of the key influencing factors surrounding problem gambling in New Mexico so as to inform prevention providers so that they can efficiently and economically provide education and prevention to serve at-risk populations. Almost 20,000 surveys of New Mexico adults gambling behavior and substance use were collected over 2 years and over 2,500 surveys were collected from high school students. Findings were presented at National Center for Responsible Gaming Conference in October, 2019.