Researchers wanted to know how the introduction of casinos in the state affected gambling behavior, Volberg said. About half of them were considered at high risk of gambling problems. That method is called a “cohort study.” It was one of two types of gambling research that Massachusetts launched at the time.Ībout 3,000 people from the original study agreed to be contacted again a couple years later. “In order to understand how gambling problems emerge and even, in many cases, are resolved, you have to follow the same people over time,” said UMass Amherst professor Rachel Volberg, who heads the state’s current gambling research.
They contacted 10,000 people in the state - before any casinos were open. In 2013, researchers in Massachusetts launched what was considered a landmark study about gambling. Massachusetts’ 2011 casino legislation mandated research into the health and economic effects of the industry, to the praise of many who work on gambling problems.īut the research budget has been going down even as gambling has expanded, leaving the body of knowledge more limited than some had hoped.
