Association between gambling harms and game types: Finnish population study

The Gambling Consumption Mediation Model (GCMM): A Multiple Mediation Approach to Estimate the Association of Particular Game Types with Problem Gambling

“…The empirical findings of the GCMM showed that last year participation in (1) EGMs offline, (2) scratch cards offline, (3) live betting online on Icelandic or foreign websites, (4) poker offline, or (5) poker online on foreign websites impacted gambling problems mostly via mechanisms of gambling frequency within these types and not by the breadth of involvement or any other mediating variable of the model. Interestingly, results support findings of previous studies in which some of these types still showed explanatory power for gambling problems despite lots of other covariates in the models [(1) for EGMs or comparable game types offline [slot machines, virtual gaming machines or video lottery terminals] see: Afifi et al 2010Afifi et al , 2014Castrén et al 2018;Cavalera et al 2018;Haß et al 2012;LaPlante et al 2011;Scalese et al 2016;Yeung and Wraith 2017; (2) for scratch cards or comparable game types offline [instant win tickets] see: Afifi et al 2010;Castrén et al 2018; (3) for live betting see: Brosowski et al 2012; LaPlante et al 2014; (4) for poker or card games see: Brosowski et al 2012;Cavalera et al 2018;Welte et al 2009]. It is worth noting that several studies revealed an adjusted risk increasing effect of offline casino games that are not slots (Afifi et al 2010(Afifi et al , 2014Haß et al 2012;Yeung and Wraith 2017).…”

Is There a Health Inequality in Gambling Related Harms? A Systematic Review

“…Eighteen studies include data on age, and several of these found that being younger was associated with a higher risk of experiencing gambling harms [40,41,42,43,33,44] . In particular one study found that younger age groups (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) were at risk of dependence and social harms [45] , however some studies found younger gamblers were less at risk of financial harms [46,47] , despite one suggesting that they spent more [48] .…”

“…Fifteen studies examined gender, and few of these found any evidence that harms affected men and women differently [53,21,40,41] . Where differences were found these could be Health Inequality in Gambling -17 explained by other factors, such as studies that show men have a higher prevalence of harms than women [42,43,54] , being explained by men gambling more frequently than women and spending more money when gambling [45,47,55] .…”

“…One of the most predictable influences on gambling harms is the specific gambling habits and behaviours of the individual. Twelve studies include data on gambling behaviours and several studies have agreed that a higher frequency of play, and higher amount of spending per session, leads to more harms [45,41,42,47,33,63] .…”

The Information Needs of Individuals Affected by Harmful Gambling in Ireland

“…Ronzitti, Soldini, Lutri, Smith, Clerici, and Bowden-Jones (2016) found that the form of gambling was linked to gambling severity in the UK; they concluded that some forms of gambling, such as fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) could be more addictive that other forms of gambling, especially when used regularly, and that overall play patterns, rather than focussing on certain types of gambling, should be considered when predicting risk for gambling addiction. Castren, Perhoniemi, Kontto, Alho, and Salonen (2017) similarly found that gambling harm in Finland was associated with particular games that enable more frequent gambling; the authors recommended that legislative and public health measures around specific games should be implemented to mitigate harm. Importantly, gender may play a role in gambling harm; Svensson and Romild (2014) found that men and women also participate in different gambling activities in Sweden.…”