A study released last week raises concerns about the lack of multilingual entertainment and culturally sensitive counseling in Chinatown, suggesting it leaves certain working-class Asian immigrants vulnerable to gambling addiction.

The study, led by UMass Boston researcher Carolyn Wong, found that without those resources, a number of low-income Asian immigrants who work long hours and face unresolved stress have come to rely on nearby casinos as their sole source of entertainment and relief. Cheap bus rides from Chinatown, buffet discounts and incentives to play only make the temptation harder to resist.

“Because the gambling opportunities and these Chinese-themed games are there, practically at the doorstep of these low-income Asian communities or Chinese communities, many of these residents go to play these games,” said Wong, who works at the UMass Boston Institute for Asian American Studies. "They’re going and spending their money, and they’re particularly vulnerable to gambling problems because of the stress in their lives.”

The interviews for this study were conducted before Encore Boston Harbor’s June 23 launch, but Wong told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that the launch of the Everett casino raised concerns about the impact its opening would have on the Asian communities in Boston, Quincy and Malden.

“You might hear people say casually, Chinese people love to gamble, or some people might even say it’s in their genes; it’s in their bloods,” she said. “We want to challenge that sweeping generalization as being inaccurate and actually misdirecting.”

The heart of the problem, she added, is that difficult conditions and social isolation people face that may make them at risk of gambling addiction.

Giles Li, head of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, said his organization wasn’t equipped to address these issues when he started getting calls about it from residents a decade ago. The neighborhood center has three licensed clinicians who regularly see families affected by gambling.

“To make sure that families are helpful and healthy places for children and youth to grow up in, we have wanted to make sure that not only are youth getting supports that they need or children getting supports that they need in our programs and in our classrooms, but that their parents and that their families are also getting supports to make sure that their home is a good place for them,” Li told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday.

Under state law, Massachusetts regulators must establish an annual research agenda reviewing the social and economic effects of casino gambling in the state and make recommendations to lawmakers.

An updated baseline population survey of nearly 10,000 respondents, led by UMass Amherst professor Rachel Volberg, assessed gambling behavior before any of the state’s casinos started operating. But one of the limitations of the survey was that it was only available in English and Spanish; the report suggested more research was done to explore the impact of gambling on immigrant and refugee communities, including Asians.

The study released this week has a small sample size — only 23 people did face-to-face interviews — but sheds light on an at-risk population that wasn’t represented in earlier reports.

Researchers selected participants who had recently gone to Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods or other casinos in the region. Several bus services cater to Chinatown customers, offering cheap rides to and from the casinos.

Some were young Asian Americans who gambled a bit but moved on to stocks. Others were younger Asian immigrants who were too busy raising their children to gamble often, or who only gambled casually and would leave the casino floor to shop.

But a handful said they borrowed money to gamble at the casinos or that gambling started to affect their work or family lives.

A middle-aged Chinatown woman who has lived in the U.S. for more than 25 years told researchers that if she loses, she’s not happy.

“If you’re not happy, you make mistakes at work and get yelled at. You can get depressed and not be able to sleep," the woman told researchers.

That participant told researchers she doesn’t have much to do other than visit casinos or attend an occasional community meeting. At the time of the interview, she was taking a bus to nearby casinos two or three times a week.

The research team recommends a public health campaign, funding for recreational activities for adults and culturally competent counselors and further research on risk factors affecting different segments of the Asian population, including refugees.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has a self-exclusion list and advisors available to speak with people concerned about their gambling habits through its GameSense program.

But Wong said Chinatown and other predominantly Asian communities could benefit from resources that are brought into their community, marketed in their own language.

“We would like people to have other options besides going to the casino to find healthy recreation," Wong said, “or if they do go to the casino for recreational gambling ... to have a wider conversation in the community, in their associations, in their families, in their agency settings, about the whole social context.”