The first large-scale survey since New Jersey legalized online gambling in 2013 shows the percentage of residents considered to have a "gambling disorder" is now three times what it is elsewhere.
So is the percentage of people with a less severe gambling problem.
The report, undertaken at the behest of Trenton by Rutgers University's Center for Gambling Studies, found that nearly 70 percent of New Jersey residents gamble - even if just to buy a lottery ticket when the pot gets big enough to make headlines.
Of those, three-quarters gambled in regular venues, with only 5 percent of the survey respondents gambling exclusively online.
The survey shows that as gambling has become nearly ever-present - from scratch-off games to bingo to online sports betting to casinos throughout the metropolitan area - the likelihood of developing a gambling problem has increased.
A statewide survey done nearly three decades ago turned up just a 2.8 percent rate of problem gambling, with a 1.4 percent rate of those who fell into the more severe category of having a gambling disorder.
By contrast, those numbers have risen to nearly 15 percent for a gambling problem and 6.3 percent for a gambling disorder.
Center director Lia Nower said she was surprised by the high prevalence of gambling problems the survey found among Hispanics, who typically do not match other ethnic groups in the frequency of mental health problems.
The survey also matched findings elsewhere that a disproportionately high number of Asians were problem gamblers. For that reason, the report urges the state to make sure its gambling addiction prevention programs are also offered in Spanish and Mandarin.
Online gambling by itself doesn't appear to be the single cause of more gambling problems among players, the report concluded.
"There has been a lot of panic, or fear about online gambling," Nower said. "What we find is that it appeals to a younger demographic, but that in isolation, it it doesn't appear online is driving a a real spike in problems."
The survey also confirmed differences in the gambling preferences of men and women. Women gamble less often and tend to prefer scratch-off or lottery tickets along with bingo. Men are more likely to engage in sports betting, live poker, casino table games, along with betting on horses.
People's gambling habits were categorized based on how many of these problems were present in their lives:
- Had they ever bet more than they could afford to lose?
- Did they need to bet larger amounts of money to get the same feeling of excitement?
- Had they ever gone back another day to win back the money they'd lost?
- Had they ever borrowed money or sold something to get money to gamble?
- Had they felt they might have a problem with gambling?
- Had gambling caused any health problems, including stress or anxiety?
- Had people criticized their betting or said they had a gambling problem, regardless of whether they thought it was true?
- Had gambling caused any financial problem for them or their household?
- Had they ever felt guilty about the way they gamble or what happens when they gamble?
People who answer "yes" to three to seven questions are thought to be at medium risk for a gambling problem, while those who answer "yes" to at least eight questions are considered high risk.
One specialized type of online gaming - daily fantasy sports - isn't technically considered gambling by some, Nower said, yet its players reported they were frequent gamblers in other venues, whether on gaming machines, horses, bingo, casino table games or other gambling games of skill.
The report highlighted online fantasy sports as a gambling option whose players displayed higher binge drinking, drug use, and thoughts of suicide.
Nower stressed the report was talking about the online websites on which players visit daily - not the single-season office pool among friends. Daily fantasy sports are competitions in which players deposit money and create mock teams in specific sports to compete against strangers. The sites have gained popularity over the last year thanks to ubiquitous television commercials.
Noting that the Legislature is considering taxing fantasy sports business, Nower said she hoped the state would also devote some of its gambling addiction resources to those its consumers as well.
The toll that excessive gambling takes on people turned up in the survey's findings that heavy gamblers were also more likely to binge drink, use drugs, and either think about or attempt suicide.
Unlike other addictions, problem gambling escapes early detection, Nower said.
"Gambling is easier to conceal," she said. "People can't tell from your breath, or your gait, that you have a problem, that you haven't paid your mortgage in months, or have maxed out your credit cards."
Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.