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01-09-2018 | Original Paper

Assessing the Role of Gambling on Problematic Alcohol Consumption by Police Officers

Author: Egbert Zavala

Published in: Journal of Gambling Studies | Issue 3/2018

Abstract

While a number of studies have attributed critical incident stressors to alcohol abuse among police officers, no study has examined the role gambling, if any, plays on problematic alcohol consumption. Therefore, data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997–1999 are analyzed to test the influence of gambling on problematic alcohol consumption engaged by police officers. Results indicated that gambling is significant in predicting problematic alcohol consumption. Burnout, peer drinking, and self-control also predicted the dependent variable. The study’s results, as well as the study’s limitations and directions for future research, are also discussed.

Information about how the study’s aims were explained to respondents, who would have access to their surveys, and how their participation would be kept confidential are explained in Gershon (1999).

There are several limitations when using cross-sectional data, such as not directly testing the causal effect between gambling and problematic alcohol consumption. This limitation is discussed further in the discussion section of the paper.

The survey originally asked about 9 potential critical incidents that police officers may encounter while on duty. Five of these events (i.e., shooting someone, being subject to an internal affairs investigation, responding to a call related to a chemical spill, being involved in a hostage situation, and experiencing a needle stick injury) were excluded from the index because these events were less frequent or even not experienced at all by the majority of officers. Again, this practice is in concert with previous studies using these data (Zavala and Kurtz 2016).

This study cannot rule out the possibility of social desirability as having an effect on how truthful respondents are when reporting burnout. I discuss more about this possibility in the discussion section of the paper.

Given the low variation of Hispanic and “other,” the decision was made to create the current variable as presented. Only 12 respondents indicated they were Hispanic and 23 indicated “other.” In addition, this coding is in concert with other studies that have utilized the current data (Anderson and Lo 2011; Gibson et al. 2001; Zavala and Kurtz 2016).

At the request of one reviewer, an exploratory analysis was conducted to explore the possible interaction effects between education and critical incident stress on gambling. Results indicated a non-significant relationship. These results are not shown or discussed in an attempt to preserve space.

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Title: Assessing the Role of Gambling on Problematic Alcohol Consumption by Police Officers
Author: Egbert Zavala
Publication date: 01-09-2018
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Gambling Studies / Issue 3/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3602
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9725-z

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Assessing the Role of Gambling on Problematic Alcohol Consumption by Police Officers

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