The Emerging Adults Gambling Survey: study protocol

The Emerging Adults Gambling Survey is a longitudinal survey of young adults aged 16-24 living in Great Britain. It aims to explore a range of gambling behaviours and harms among young adults and examine how this changes over time. It is part of a broader project funded by Wellcome into the gambling behaviours of young people and its relationship with technological change. Funding is currently available for two waves of data collection: the first collected in June/August 2019 (n=3549) and the second to be collected in June/August 2020. The second wave of data collection will also obtain information about the immediate impact of coronavirus on gambling behaviours. With a sample size of 3549 for Wave 1, this is one of the largest study of gambling behaviours among young adults to be conducted in Great Britain and is a resource for other researchers to draw on. Data will be deposited in the UK Data Archive upon completion of Wave 2 data collection and analysis. This protocol is intended to support other researchers to use this resource by setting out the study design and methods

Exploring social gambling: scoping, classification and evidence review

The aim of this report is to speculate on the level of concern we might have regarding consumer risk in relation to ‘social gambling.’ In doing so, this report is intended to help form the basis to initiate debate around a new and under-researched social issue; assist in setting a scientific research agenda; and, where appropriate, highlight concerns about any potential areas that need to be considered in terms of precautionary regulation. This report does not present a set of empirical research findings regarding ‘social gambling’ but rather gathers information to improve stakeholder understanding

'Risky places?': mapping gambling machine density and socio-economic deprivation

The aims of this project were to map the location and density of gambling machines in Britain; to explore whether geographic areas with higher densities of machines exist and to examine the socio-economic characteristics of these areas relative to others. Using geospatial analysis of premises records, we identified 8861 Machine Zones which were areas with a 400 meter radius around gambling machine venue and 384 High Density Machine Zones (HDMZ) with 1 or more gambling machine per hectare. There was a significant correlation between machine density and socio-economic deprivation. HDMZs had greater levels of income deprivation, more economically inactive people and a younger age profile than other areas; 37 % of those living in HDMZs were economically inactive compared with 33 % of those in non-machine areas. HDMZs were in seaside locations but also New Towns or satellite towns to major urban areas. Area affluence explains some of this pattern; of the New Towns with HDMZs, 78 % were in New Towns with a high proportion of low income areas. We therefore concluded that the distribution of gambling machines in Great Britain, in line with other international jurisdictions, displays a significant association with areas of socio-economic deprivation. The profile of the resident population living in HDMZs mirrors the profile of those most at-risk of experiencing harm from gambling. This spatial pattern has important implications for assessing the relationship between gambling availability and gambling-related harm, and for the future development of policy, harm-prevention and treatment strategies

Gambling in Asian Communities in Great Britain

Abstract This paper examines the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling among people of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi cultural backgrounds living in Great Britain. Information was gathered from the last two versions of a large-scale national adult prevalence survey and a similar survey of children aged 11 to 15 years, all conducted since 2007. Together, the surveys yielded sub-samples of 589 Asian adults and 482 Asian children from a combined total of more than 16,000 adults and nearly 9,000 children. In both adult and child Asian populations, the 7-day participation rate in gambling (22% and 13%, respectively) was found to be low relative to that in the white majority community, yet problem gambling prevalence, measured by the adult Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition screen (1.4%) and its juvenile equivalent (2.9%), was significantly higher, including among women. It therefore follows that those Asians who do gamble are unusually prone to experiencing problems, which has implications for public health policies such as the provision of information and help in minority languages. The relevance of the findings seems likely to extend to other countries with significantly sized Asian communities.</jats:p

Gambling harm: a global problem requiring global solutions

No abstract available

Female gambling behaviour: a case study of realist description

Gambling is a complex social behaviour. How behaviour is shaped can vary within different historical and cultural contexts: to date, it is rare for the impact of these different contexts to be examined. The study of gambling has been (largely) entrenched within a bio-medical paradigm, where problematic gambling is viewed as an innate characteristic of the individual. This focus limits understanding about the ways in which gambling behaviour is shaped and also limits the range of policy responses to intervention with ‘problematic’ individuals. Specific examination of the way different contexts and mechanisms, both proximate and distal, shape behaviour has not been undertaken. The term ‘prisoners of the proximate’ (Hanlon et al, 2012) is an apt description of much contemporary gambling research. This thesis seeks to explore alternative ways to frame the study of gambling behaviour and argues that a focus on contexts and how behaviour varies for whom and under what circumstances is appropriate. This builds on Pawson and Tilley’s (1997) principles of realist evaluation and Pawson’s (2006) work on realist review to consider what realist description might look like as a form of empirical investigation. This includes recognition of the inherent subjectivity of all research and advocates an expansive analytical approach whereby many different types of evidence are brought together to examine a particular issue. To do this, this thesis draws on secondary analysis of existing data, historical evidence and theoretical review. This approach is applied to the study of female gambling behaviour. By drawing together data generated from the 1940s to the present day, it demonstrates how patterns of gambling behaviour are gendered and how gambling preferences vary based on prevailing social and political norms and legislation. This thesis argues that a process of ‘re-”feminisation”’ of gambling is evident in Britain today. In addition, the diversity of female gambling behaviour among different groups of women is explored, as is variation based on individual, social and spatial characteristics. This is achieved by using many different sources of data (mainly large-scale government surveys such as the Health Survey for England, the British Gambling Prevalence Survey series, the Taking Part survey) but also by supplementing these datasets with administrative information about the spatial patterning of gambling venues to broaden the scope of investigation. A number of different analytic techniques are used (factor analysis, latent class analysis, survival analysis and more standard descriptive methods) to explore how behaviour varies for different women in different circumstances. Using an expansive approach to secondary data analysis, whereby information from different studies is used to explore female patterns of behaviour from different viewpoints, creates a more nuanced understanding of female gambling behaviour. This is the purpose of realist description. It is an approach which recognises that not everything is the same for all people in all circumstances. Recognising this diversity at the outset of investigation provides a platform to explore this in depth. This thesis argues that this recognition should underpin the design and analysis of primary survey research to provide a more solid basis upon which to consider why behaviour varies. Doing so creates a solid foundation for a more considered examination of what type of policy interventions are most appropriate, for whom, and under what circumstances

Perceptions, people and place: Findings from a rapid review of qualitative research on youth gambling.

Exploring perceptions, experiences and determinants of youth gambling is crucial for understanding both the impact of youth gambling now and the antecedents of future behaviour. Qualitative research plays an important role in exploring these processes, yet to date, there has been no systematic review of qualitative scientific literature of youth gambling behaviour. A rapid review of three databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) and grey literature was conducted to map what qualitative research has been conducted, to identify gaps and discern emerging theories or themes about youth gambling behaviour. Peer-reviewed studies were included if they qualitatively explored youth experiences or perceptions of gambling. Narrative and thematic synthesis identified key descriptive and analytical themes covered by the studies. From 75 studies, 21 papers were included. Studies focused on youth perceptions of gambling (including advertising) and/or the factors shaping behaviour. Those which examined perceptions highlighted the normalcy of gambling in the minds of youth and its embeddedness in everyday life but also ambiguity and nuance around their differing perceptions of what gambling is. Studies emphasised the relationship between people (family, peers), place, technology and advertising as key facilitators of behaviour. This review shows young people's perceptions of gambling differs from legal and legislative definitions, which risks underestimating the nature and extent of youth gambling behaviour. There are also notable gaps in knowledge, specifically around the role of technology in shaping gambling behaviours beyond consideration of access and availability. There is a pressing need to better understand the whole techno-ecosystem in which gambling is situated and young people's relationship with it to understand youth gambling

The Same or Different? Convergence of Skin Gambling and Other Gambling Among Children.

There is increasing attention on the introduction of gambling-like practices within video games. Termed convergence, this has been explored from the viewpoint of the product, examining similarities in game/gambling mechanics. Understanding convergence of practice is essential to map the epidemiology of these behaviours, especially among children. This paper focuses on the betting of skins within video games to explore co-occurrence with other forms of gambling among British children aged 11-16. Analysing the British Youth Gambling Survey showed that 39% of children who bet on skins in the past month had also gambled on other activities. Betting on skins and other forms of gambling increased with age and concordance of skin gambling/betting was greatest for those who also gambled online. Among gamblers, those who bet skins had higher rates of at-risk and problem gambling than those who did not (23% vs. 8%), though they had a greater breath of gambling involvement. Skin gambling alone was not significantly associated with at-risk gambling when other forms of gambling activity were taken into account. Skin betting and gambling on other activities cluster together, especially where the medium underpinning the behaviours is the same. Children who engage in both skin gambling/betting and other forms of gambling should be considered at-risk for the experience of harms because of their heightened engagement in gambling and gambling-like activities