In Massachusetts, veterans make up a fifth of those classified as problem gamblers, though vets make up just 3.7% of the population. And nationally, 8% of all veterans report problem gambling, compared with 1.4% of the population.
Those numbers tell only part of the story, said Emma Hersh, director of veterans programs and employee experience for the consulting firm Technical Assent.
“We were trying to understand the experience behind the numbers,” Hersh told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission at a recent meeting.
The commission is funding research into veterans and problem gambling done by Technical Assent through the William Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
