TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Characteristics of treatment seeking finnish pathological gamblers: baseline data from a treatment study
JO  - International journal of mental health and addiction
A1  - Lahti, Tuuli
A1  - Halme, Jukka T.
A1  - Pankakoski, Maiju
A1  - Sinclair, David
A1  - Alho, Hannu
SP  - 307
EP  - 314
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
N2  - This article describes the socio-demographic characteristics and gambling behavior of 39 pathological gamblers who participated in our treatment study in 2009. The inclusion criteria of the study were: score of five or more on both the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and a pathological gambling screen based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The first 39 patients meeting the inclusion criterion were recruited into the study. The average age of the subjects was 39 years, and 80 % were males. The lag-time between active gambling (at least three times per week) and the onset of a pathological gambling problem was short: within 2 years of active gambling, 62 % of the subjects reported having become pathological gamblers. Our results also indicated certain gender-specific differences in the age at initiation and in the severity of the gambling problem.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1557-1874
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11469-012-9411-4
ID  - ref1
ER  -