Impacts of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Gambling Patterns in Australia: Consideration of Problem Gambling and Psychological Distress

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic reduced access to gambling and contributed to widespread psychological distress. Psychological distress is a known risk factor for problem gambling as it can motivate excessive gambling as a coping response. The availability of gambling is considered a factor in maintaining problems. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of the shutdown of gambling venues on Australians, particularly among those vulnerable to mental health problems and gambling disorder. Methods: Australian adults who had gambled at least once in the past 12 months ( N = 764, 85.2% male) completed an online cross-sectional survey. Self-report measures retrospectively assessed typical monthly gambling frequency and expenditure before and after the COVID-19 venue shutdown, problem gambling, and psychological distress. Results: Significant median decreases in gambling frequency were observed, both online and overall. No relationship was found between psychological distress and baseline or increases in gambling. Greater problem gambling severity was related to higher baseline gambling, but not to increases in gambling. Exploratory analysis showed that individuals engaged in moderate-risk gambling, but not problem gambling, were more likely to report increased gambling frequency compared to nonproblem and low-risk gamblers combined. Conclusions: Findings provide important insights into how changes in availability influence gambling participation, and for understanding the effectiveness of forced restrictions and venue exclusion strategies. Most people moderated their gambling when venue-based gambling was unavailable and opportunities for sports betting were limited. However, harms experienced by individuals with some gambling problems may have been exacerbated during the period of limited access. Policies to enhance prevention and treatment of gambling problems are necessary even when availability is reduced.

An Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Financial Well-Being and Changes in Reported Gambling Behaviour During the COVID-19 Shutdown in Australia

“…No hypotheses were formulated in relation to the current study due to its exploratory nature. Findings about the relationships between pre-existing gambling problems, psychological distress, and changes in gambling behaviour during the initial shutdown are reported in a separate paper (Gainsbury et al, 2020). Overall, we found that most participants in our sample reduced their gambling, but those at moderate risk of gambling problems were more likely to report increased gambling during the shutdown.…”

Changes of Gambling Patterns during COVID-19 in Sweden, and Potential for Preventive Policy Changes. A Second Look Nine Months into the Pandemic

“…A different analysis from the same setting, studying ecological data of gamblers' activity in gambling operators on the overall Swedish gambling market, demonstrated modest effects on gambling in Sweden during the pandemic, mainly indicating a decrease rather than the opposite [3]. In Australia, during the reduction of physical gambling opportunities, overall gambling did not demonstrate an increase, also not in the online setting, and individuals with the highest degree of gambling problems were not more likely to increase their gambling [18]. In contrast, a study carried out during physical COVID-19-related restrictions in Ontario, Canada, demonstrated some migration from land-based to online gambling, and a number of risk factors, such as anxiety, depression, being influenced to gamble due to COVID-19 and gambling under the influence of cannabis or alcohol were associated with high-risk gambling months into the pandemic in 2020 [4].…”

Impact of Gambling Supply Reduction During COVID-19 Shutdowns on Gambling Problems and Gambling Behaviour in Australia: A National Longitudinal Study

“…Scores could range between 0 and 270. Given the lack of validated measures of gambling frequency, these measures were developed based on our earlier work (Gainsbury et al, 2020 ). Overall gambling engagement was collected and computed in a similar manner, summing the recoded responses to the nine online gambling activities with those from eight items assessing land-based gambling engagement.…”

“…Research out of Australia and Sweden to date using primarily cross-sectional designs shows an overall decrease in gambling engagement in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been shown when measured by proportion of the population gambling (Biddle, 2020 ), frequency of gambling engagement (Gainsbury et al, 2020 ; Håkansson, 2020b ; Lindner et al, 2020 ), and gambling taxation levels (Håkansson, 2020a ). On the other hand, in Australia, the pandemic has also been associated with worsening of some mental health concerns such as anxiety (Kendrick & Isaac, 2020 ).…”