Abstract

The purposes of this study were to investigate: (1) psycho-social characteristics of Korean gamblers; (2) psycho-social characteristics of problem and pathological gamblers; (3) estimating the ratio of problem and pathological gamblers across various gambling game sites and (4) predictors of problem and pathological gambling. 986 Korean adults were interviewed about their experience, attitudes, beliefs, motives, and behaviors toward gambling and DSM-IV pathological gambling criteria for the period of July to August, 2002. Participants of this study were sampled from the Kangwon Land casino(N=220), Seoul horse racing(N=126), Seoul cycle racing(N=109), Gamblers Anonymous(N=67), gambling criminals(N=7), and elementary and middle school teachers(N=344). The results of the study show that male and 30s and 40s years old people participate in gambling game most frequently in Korea. The prevalence of pathological gambling(DSM-IV criteria) were about 3% among teachers group, 18%～39% among gambling game group, and 43%～63% among GA & gambling criminals group. Habits, attitudes and motivation toward gambling, proactive coping and depression were the significant predictors for the severity of pathological gambling.