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'Responsible drinking' remains a poorly defined construct despite decades of use among diverse stakeholders including industry, academics, governmental agencies, and addiction advocacy groups. To move the field closer to a consensus definition of responsible drinking that is useful for educational and research purposes, we describe five primary barriers that discourage the construction of a shared definition of responsible drinking. These barriers include the lack of foundational empirical evidence, the social construction of the term, the possibility that different targets require different definitions, the political implications of responsible drinking, and the possibility that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. We conclude this article by offering suggestions to overcome these barriers through further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many jurisdictions around the world have implemented Responsible Gambling (RG) programs for the purpose of preventing gambling-related harms. Using a research synthesis strategy, this paper examines the extant peer-reviewed empirical evidence underpinning RG strategies. Instead of reporting all available studies and then discarding many on the ground of methodological flaws, we used the followinga prioriset of inclusion criteria: (1) All studies must have been conducted within real gambling environments with ‘real’ gamblers; and studies must have included at least one of the following elements: (2) a matched control or comparison group; (3) repeated measures; and (4) one or more measurement scales. The results revealed that only 29 articles met at least one of the methodological criteria. These empirical studies revealed five primary RG strategies. These findings have practical implications for evidence-based implementation of RG activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To identify patterns of sports gambling that discriminate sports bettors with self-reported gambling-related problems from sports bettors without such difficulties. Methods: Secondary data analysis of the actual betting behavior observed during the first 2 years of a longitudinal study of 47,134 subscribers to an Internet sports gambling site. This sample included the gambling behavior of 679 bettors who self-reported the reason for closing their accounts during that period. We contrasted the behavior of those who closed their accounts because of gambling-related problems ( n = 215, 32%) to the behavior of other account closers (ACs) who were either not satisfied with the service ( n = 113, 17%) or no longer interested in betting ( n = 351, 52%). Results: Exploratory multivariate discriminant function analyses identified a sub-group of approximately half the ACs with gambling-related problems who exhibited a homogeneous and distinct pattern of sports-betting behavior. Compared to other ACs, this sub-group made more and larger bets, bet more frequently, and were more likely to exhibit intense betting soon after enrollment. The group estimation formula derived from this prototype applied to an independent sample of ACs confirmed the prevalence of this distinct gambling pattern. Conclusion: Because Internet gambling provides a unique opportunity to study actual gambling behavior, it is possible to identify betting patterns that can lead to the development of gambling-related problems. This pattern recognition can inform the development of interventions to help disordered gamblers recognize their risky behavior and avoid further problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on an article by M. Young which discusses the relationship between the gambling industry and the construct of pathological gambling. He argues on Young's view of gambling pathology as a requirement for reproduction of gambling industries. He opines that if pathological gambling plays a role in expansion of gambling industry then the principle also relates to adverse social consequences.