Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore whether or not the increased availability of legalized gambling leads to increase in the prevalence of gambling-related problems, and the relationship between gambling behaviors and gambling-related problems and residents' perceptions of their own satisfaction with life among the residents who live at the location of casinos. Three casino communities, designated by a special law as run-down mining areas, were chosen for the survey research. One community consisted of two towns, Kohan and Sabuk in Chongsun county at which the casino is located. The other communities were Taeback city and other rural areas in Chongsun county. 559 samples from three communities completed self-administered questionnaires(gambling behavior participation, K-NODS, perceived impacts coward casino development, and scales of the satisfaction with life). Results were as follows; it was found that there was a positive relationship between gambling behaviors and gambling-related problems, and a negative relationship between gambling-related problems and the satisfaction with life. While residents who live Kohan and Sabuk community were likely to perceive negative impacts of the casino development, the residents in Taeback city were likely to perceive the casino development positively. It was found that the increased casino accessibility led co the increase in the gambling problems; the prevalence rates of pathological gambling in Kohan and Sabuk community were higher than both in Taebak city and in more rural areas in Chongsun county. The nagative impacts of legalized casino industry on community where the casino located were discussed.