WShead

Dr. N. Will Shead
Associate Professor
Office: Evaristus 425
Office Phone: 902-457-6159

E-Mail: will.shead@msvu.ca

Website:faculty.msvu.ca/willshead/

Twitter: @DrWillShead

Research Interests

My primary area of research is gambling. I am interested in the processes involved in the development and maintenance of general gambling behaviour as well as gambling problems. With the gambling industry continuing to grow on a global scale, gambling and the indisputable concerns that arise from gambling problems are an area of scientific inquiry with endless possibilities. My past research has examined a range of topics including cognitive mechanisms underlying problem gambling, emotional regulation and motives related to gambling, Internet gambling, sports wagering, and poker playing. Ultimately, I hope this research will lead to the development of new and improved prevention and treatment programs for individuals experiencing gambling problems.

One of my ongoing areas of study has been the examination of behavioural discounting and its relation to risk-taking and gambling. Delay discounting refers to the tendency for delayed outcomes to be considered worth less compared to the value of immediate outcomes; probability discounting describes the tendency for uncertain outcomes to be valued less than certain outcomes. These individual tendencies can be measured using a standard research paradigm and have been shown to be associated with significant psychosocial variables. For example, numerous studies have shown that higher rates of delay discounting are related to greater impulsivity. Studies on problem gamblers have shown that problem gamblers have higher rates of delay discounting compared to controls suggesting that problem gamblers tend to prefer smaller, more immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. My current program of research is aimed at further clarifying how tendencies towards discounting of delayed and probabilistic outcomes relate to gambling behaviour.

Recently, I have been involved in research that aims to build on our current understanding of gambling behaviour from a social psychological theoretical framework. In a set of studies supported by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (Callan, Shead, & Olson, 2008-2009), we demonstrated that threatening personal deservingness by leading them to believe they have less discretionary income compared to similar peers leads to increased preference for immediate rewards which, in turn, leads to increased gambling behaviour. We believe these findings are important because they will contribute to a better understanding of the psychological processes related to the vulnerabilities that lead some individuals towards gambling-related problems.

I am currently conducting research on gambling activities that contain an element of skill, specifically poker. My interest in poker was sparked by the rapid rise in poker’s popularity since the early 2000s, particularly among adolescents and university students. The continued expansion of the online gambling industry suggests a strong need to investigate poker and online gambling in future studies.

My research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. I have been awarded research grants from the Alberta Gaming Research Institute and the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., Paskus, T. Trends in gambling behavior among college student-athletes: A comparison of 2004 and 2008 NCAA survey data. Journal of Gambling Issues (revisions under review).

Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., Fong, T. W., & Gupta, R. (2012). Characteristics of Internet gamblers among a sample of students at a large, public university in Southwestern United States. Journal of College Student Development, 53(1), 133-148. doi: 10.1353/csd.2012.0005

Callan, M. J., Shead, N. W., & Olson, J. M. (2011). Personal relative deprivation, delay discounting, and gambling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(5), 955-973. doi: 10.1037/a0024778

Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., & Meerkamper, E. (2011). Your mother should know: A comparison of maternal and paternal attitudes and behaviors related to gambling among their adolescent children. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 9(3), 264-275. doi: 10.1007/s11469-010-9279-0

Shead, N. W., Walsh, K., Taylor, A., Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2011). Youth gambling prevention: Can public service announcements featuring celebrity spokespersons be effective? International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 9(2), 165-197. doi: 10.1007/s11469-009-9260-y

Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2010). Risk and protective factors associated with youth problem gambling. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 22(1), 39-58.

Moubarac, J-C, Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L. (2010). Bingo playing and problem gambling: A review of our current knowledge. Journal of Gambling Issues, 24, 164-184. doi: 10.4309/2010.24.10

Shead, N. W., & Hodgins, D. C. (2009). Affect-regulation expectancies among gamblers.Journal of Gambling Studies, 25, 357-375. doi: 10.1007/s10899-009-9131-2

Shead, N. W., & Hodgins, D. C. (2009). Probability discounting of gains and losses: Implications for risk attitudes and impulsivity. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 92, 1-16. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2009.92-1

Shead, N. W., Callan, M. J., & Hodgins, D. C. (2008). Probability discounting among gamblers: Differences across problem gambling severity and affect-regulation expectancies. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 536-541. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2008.06.008



Callan, M. J., Shead, N. W., & Olson, J. M. (2009). Foregoing the labor for the fruits: The effect of just world threat on the desire for immediate monetary rewards. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 246-249. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.08.013




Callan, M. J., Ellard, J. H., Shead, N. W., & Hodgins, D. C. (2008). Gambling as a search for justice: Examining the role of personal relative deprivation in gambling urges and gambling behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1514-1529. doi: 10.1177/0146167208322956




Shead, N. W., Hodgins, D. C., & Scharf, D. (2008). Differences between poker players and non-poker playing gamblers. International Gambling Studies, 8, 167-178. doi: 10.1080/14459790802139991




Hodgins, D. C., Shead, N. W., & Makarchuk, K. (2007). Relationship satisfaction and psychological distress among concerned significant others of pathological gamblers.  Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195, 65-71. doi: 10.1097/01.nmd.0000252382.47434.a6




Shead, N. W., & Dobson, K. S. (2004). Psychology for sale: The ethics of advertising professional services. Canadian Psychology, 45, 125-136. doi: 10.1037/h0086979


BOOK CHAPTERS


Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2011). Youth problem gambling: Our current knowledge of risk and protective factors. In J. Derevensky, D. Shek, & J. Merrick (Eds.), Youth gambling problems: The hidden addiction (pp. 59-78). Berlin: De Gruyter.




Shead, N. W., & Hodgins, D. C. (2007). Substance use disorders. In J. Grant & M. Potenza (Eds.), Textbook of men’s mental health (pp. 119-142). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.


RESEARCH REPORTS


Olson, J. M., Callan, M. J., & Shead, N. W. (2011). Gambling advertisements, personal relative deprivation, and gambling (Research Report No. 2814). Retrieved from Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre website: http://www.gamblingresearch.org/content/research.php?appid=2814




Callan, M. J., Shead, N. W., & Olson, J. M. (2011). Personal relative deprivation, delay discounting, and gambling (Research Report No. 2635). Retrieved from Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre website: http://www.gamblingresearch.org/content/research.php?appid=2635




Shead, N. W., Walsh, K., Taylor, A., Derevensky, J., & Gupta, R. (2009). Youth Gambling Prevention: Can celebrity-endorsed media campaigns be effective? Research report for the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.


Gupta, R., Derevensky, J., Shead, N. W., & Nower, L. (2009). Binging behaviour in young gamblers: An exploratory study of gambling patterns (Research Report No. 2340). Retrieved from Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre website: http://www.gamblingresearch.org/content/research.php?appid=2340


RECENT ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS




Shead, N. W., Brine, S., Gaudet, J., Haggett, M., Rudolph, E., Talisman, E (2012, June). The impact of gambling and exposure to scientific communication on discounting of delayed gains. Poster session presented at the 2012 Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Halifax, NS.




Stewart, S. H., Barrett, S. P., Shead, N. W., Hodgins, D. C., Buckley, M., Black, S., & Swansburg, J. (2012, April). Increasing treatment retention by matching problem gambling treatment to underlying motives for gambling. Poster session presented at the Alberta Gaming Research Institute (AGRI) 11th Annual Conference, Halifax, NS.




Shead, N. W. (2010, October). All-in on the Internet: An examination of online poker players. Paper presented at the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation’s Responsible Gambling Conference, Halifax, NS.


Callan, M. J., Shead, N. W., & Olson, J. M. (2010, August). Personal relative deprivation, temporal discounting, and gambling. Paper presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Justice Research, Banff, AB.


Shead, N. W. (2010, February). Issues in problem gambling treatment for poker players. Paper presented at the Ontario Problem Gambling Provincial Forum, Ottawa, ON. 




Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., Fong, T. W., & Gupta, R. (2009, September). Characteristics of Internet Gamblers among a College Sample of Students. Poster session presented at the Gambling and Addictions Symposium 2009, Montreal, QC.