Current Projects

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OHIO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ GAMBLING AND ADDICTIONS PROJECT 

College students experience higher rates of problem gambling compared to the general population (Nowak & Aloe, 2014). Expansions in sports betting in the U.S. have amplified risks for young adults, especially young men (Grubbs & Kraus, 2022). Nevertheless, little is known about the experience of gambling on rural campuses in states with access to online and sports gambling, such as Ohio University.

This study explores the use of gambling in college students, the risks and harms that they experience, and their knowledge and use of prevention or responsible gambling strategies. This study will also look at gaps in knowledge and barriers to help-seeking for gambling problems in college students. We hope that this study will bring increased understanding to gambling behaviors and ways to improve prevention and intervention in college students, especially on more rural campuses.

Collaborators

The TEA Lab values collaborations, which we believe make research better. Our current collaborators include:

Cassie Boness, Ph.D. – University of New Mexico & Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA)

Cory Cronin, Ph.D. – Ohio University

Chris Floyd, M.A. – Bowling Green State University

Josh Grubbs, Ph.D. – University of New Mexico & Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA)

Shane Kraus, Ph.D. – University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Bethany Lemont, Ph.D. – Ohio University

Brooke Rogers, Ph.D., M.P.H. – Boston University School of Medicine

Peter Soyster, M.A. – University of California, Berkeley

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RURAL GAMBLING STUDY

Gambling in Rural Areas: A Focus on Appalachian Communities

Our team is currently working on and planning several projects related to understanding the experience of gambling in rural areas using a mixed methods approach. We hope to better understand what gambling looks like in rural Appalachia, who is gambling, who is having problems, and barriers to treatments and prevention services for those gamblers.

Community Advisory Board

Our work is conducted in collaboration with a community advisory board of individuals with lived experience of problem gambling. The community advisory board collaboratively works with our team on a variety of tasks, such as interpreting our data, designing research questions, designing our survey and interview tools, and identifying future directions. Our community advisory board are partners in our research and help ensure that our work is for and with our community. You can read about the purpose of our community advisory board here. You are also welcome to email us with additional questions.

Rural Gambling Survey

We are currently collecting survey data from individuals who have gambled in the past 12 months and live in a rural Appalachian county in Ohio. We will be asking questions about their experiences of gambling, including harms they may have experienced, and barriers to help seeking if needed. A select number of participants will also be invited to complete a follow-up interview to help us clarify responses to these surveys and more fully understand their experiences through more in-depth conversation. We hope that these results will help to inform future prevention and intervention work in rural areas by better describing the gambling experience in individuals living in a rural area and identifying their unique experiences. Alongside our community partners, we plan for this work to provide feedback to rural Appalachian community providers. More information is expected at the end of 2025. Those interested in completing the survey can see the flyer below.