Problem gambling and family violence: family member reports of prevalence, family impacts and family coping

Abstract

There exists only a small number of empirical studies investigating the patterns of family violence in problem gambling populations, although some evidence exists that intimate partner violence and child abuse are among the most severe interpersonal correlates of problem gambling. The current article reports on the Australian arm of a large-scale study of the patterns and prevalence of co-occurrence of family violence and problem gambling in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The current study screened 120 help-seeking family members of problem gamblers in a range of clinical services for both family violence and problem gambling. The main results showed that 52.5% reported some form of family violence in the past 12 months: 20.0% reported only victimisation, 10.8% reported only perpetration and 21.6% reported both victimisation and perpetration of family violence. Parents, current and ex-partners were most likely to be both perpetrators and victims of family violence. There were no gender differences in reciprocal violence but females were more likely to be only victims and less likely to report no violence in comparison to males. Most of the 32 participants interviewed in depth, reported that gambling generally preceded family violence. The findings suggest that perpetration of family violence was more likely to occur as a reaction to deeply-rooted and accumulated anger and mistrust whereas victimisation was an outcome of gambler's anger brought on by immediate gambling losses and frustration. While multiple and intertwined negative family impacts were likely to occur in the presence of family violence, gambling-related coping strategies were not associated with the presence or absence of family violence. The implications of the findings for service providers are discussed.

Problem gambling and family violence: Prevalence and patterns in treatment-seekers

“…The highest proportion of the gambling sample reported both family violence victimisation and perpetration, raising the possibility of reciprocal violence occurring in problem gambling families (Suomi et al, 2013). Consistent with Kausch et al (2006), women were 2.1 times more likely to report victimisation only and 1.6 times more likely to report both victimisation and perpetration than men.…”

“…Finally, the parents, partners, and former partners of the gamblers were most commonly endorsed as both perpetrators and victims of family violence. Evidence of high rates of family violence victimisation and perpetration by the parents of problem gamblers has also been noted in a study investigating the prevalence of family violence in a small sample of the family members of problem gamblers (Suomi et al, 2013). Moreover, there are findings to suggest that parents of problem gamblers report equivalent financial, emotional, social life, employment, and physical health impacts to partners (Dowling, Rodda, Lubman, & Jackson, 2014).…”

Gambling and violence in a nationally representative sample of UK men

“…Moreover, studies of male perpetrators of IPV show consistently high rates of pathological gambling [14,15]. It has been speculated that the stress and financial problems that go hand-in-hand with gambling problems are a catalyst for violent behaviour in the home which is then directed towards partners, significant others and/or children [9,13,17].…”

“…Some dysfunctional relationships evolve into violence, and there is growing evidence to show that problem gambling is a specific risk factor for family and intimate partner violence (IPV) [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Moreover, studies of male perpetrators of IPV show consistently high rates of pathological gambling [14,15].…”

Quelle est l’influence du genre dans la recherche de soins chez les joueurs?

“…Les différentes sources de documentation confirment que le jeu peut entraîner des troubles de santé mentale, des problèmes financiers et légaux, des complications professionnelles ainsi que des tensions familiales -liées parfois à des problématiques de violence et d'abus passées ou présentes -et une vulnérabilité accrue aux conduites suicidaires (Andronicos et al, 2015;Beaudoin & Cox, 1999;Blaszczynski & Farrell, 1998;DeCaria, Hollander Grossman, & Wong, 1996;Kausch, 2003;Lorains, Cowlishaw, & Thomas 2011;Maccallum & Blaszczynski, 2003;Newman & Thompson, 2007;Petry, Stinson, & Grant, 2005;Séguin et al, 2006;Suomi et al, 2013).…”