gambling and problem gambling in victoria · gambling and problem gambling in victoria howe et al....

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July 2018

Gambling and problem gambling in Victoria

RESEARCH REPORT

Our vision: A Victoria free from gambling-related harm

© Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, July 2018

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. The licence does not apply to any images, photographs, branding or logos.

This report has been peer reviewed by two independent researchers. For further information on the foundation’s review process of research reports, please see responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au.

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DisclaimerThe opinions, findings and proposals contained in this report represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the attitudes or opinions of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation or the State of Victoria. No warranty is given as to the accuracy of the information. The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation specifically excludes any liability for any error or inaccuracy in, or omissions from, this document and any loss or damage that you or any other person may suffer.

To cite this reportHowe, P, Vargas-Saenz, A, Hulbert, C, Boldero, J, 2018, Gambling and problem gambling in Victoria, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Melbourne

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Final report prepared by: A/Prof. Piers Howe Ms. Adriana Vargas-Saenz A/Prof. Carol Hulbert A/Prof. Jennifer Boldero Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences University of Melbourne

July, 2018

GamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria Howeetal.2018

VictorianResponsibleGamblingFoundation

2

Acknowledgements

TheresearchersgratefullyacknowledgethesupportoftheVictorianResponsible

GamblingFoundation(VRGF)whofundedthisworkviatheGrantsforGambling

ResearchProgram(Round7).WewouldalsoliketothankAssociateProfessorRichard

Bell,anHonoraryPrincipalFellowintheMelbourneSchoolofPsychologicalSciencesat

theUniversityofMelbourneforhelpfuldiscussions.Theviewsexpressedinthisreport

areentirelythoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsofA/ProfBell,

theVRGFortheDepartmentofJustice.

Finally,wewouldliketothankthepeoplewhogavetheirtimetoparticipateinour

survey.Withouttheirhelp,thisstudywouldnothavebeenpossible.

Howe,P.D.L.,Vargas‐Saenz,A.,Hulbert,C.A.&Boldero,J.M.(2018).Finalreporton

gamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria.Melbourne,Australia:Responsible

GamblingFoundation.

TheprojectwasapprovedbytheHumanResearchEthicsCommitteeoftheUniversityof

Melbourne(HRECNo.1545085).



3

A tribute to A/Prof Jennifer M. Boldero

A/ProfJenniferBolderodiedunexpectedlyonSeptember23,2017.Jenniferwasaleader

inthefieldofappliedsocialpsychologyandhadadiverserangeofinterestsincluding

thedevelopmentofproblemgambling,people’sattitudestowardsandpreparednessfor

naturaldisasters,individuals’responsestoAIDS/HIV,individuals’compliancewith

healthscreening,responsestoterrorism,psychologicaldisorders,andpoliticaldecision‐

making.Jenniferissorelymissedbyhercolleagues,students,friendsandfamily.



4

Table of contents

Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................2

AtributetoA/ProfJenniferM.Boldero........................................................................3

Tableofcontents..........................................................................................................4

Tables...............................................................................................................................6

Figures.............................................................................................................................6

Executivesummary.....................................................................................................7

Purposeofreport..................................................................................................................7

Methodology...........................................................................................................................7

Majorfindings........................................................................................................................7

Chapter1–Introduction........................................................................................10

Background...........................................................................................................................10

Researchquestions............................................................................................................10

Projectscope........................................................................................................................11

Procedure..............................................................................................................................11

Structureofthereport......................................................................................................12

Chapter2–Literaturereview...............................................................................13

Introduction..........................................................................................................................13

TheprevalenceofgamblingandgamblingproblemsinVictoria......................13

FactorsthatpredictgamblingfrequencyandPGSIscore....................................14

Perceptionsofothers..................................................................................................................14

Advertising,promotionalmaterial,anddiscussinggambling...................................15

Demographicfactors...................................................................................................................15

Psychologicalfactors..................................................................................................................16

Researchissues....................................................................................................................17

Conclusions...........................................................................................................................18



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Chapter3–Pilotstudy............................................................................................19

Introduction..........................................................................................................................19

Method....................................................................................................................................19

Participants.....................................................................................................................................19

Procedure........................................................................................................................................19

Results.....................................................................................................................................20

Conclusions...........................................................................................................................20

Chapter4–SurveyofarepresentativesampleofVictorianadults........21

Introduction..........................................................................................................................21

Participants...........................................................................................................................21

Measures................................................................................................................................22

Demographiccharacteristics...................................................................................................22

Gamblingfrequency....................................................................................................................22

Approvalofgambling.................................................................................................................22

Advertisements,promotionalmaterials,andgambling‐relateddiscussions......23

Psychologicalfactorsanderroneousgamblingcognitions.........................................23

Results.....................................................................................................................................25

TheprevalenceofgamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria...............................25

Thefactorsthatpredictgamblingandproblemgambling.........................................31

Chapter5–Discussionandconclusions...........................................................43

Introduction..........................................................................................................................43

TheprevalenceofgamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria........................43

Thefactorsthatpredictgamblingfrequency...........................................................45

ThefactorsthatpredictPGSIscore..............................................................................47

Implicationsforpolicyandinterventions.................................................................48

Problemgamblingismoreprevalentthanpreviouslyreported..............................48

Problemgamblingismainlypredictedbyjustfivefactors........................................49

Gamblingfrequency....................................................................................................................49

Limitations............................................................................................................................50

Conclusionsandrecommendationsforfutureresearch......................................51

References...................................................................................................................53

AppendixA..................................................................................................................57

AppendixB..................................................................................................................58



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Tables

Table1:Prevalenceofgambling.............................................................................................................26

Table2:Correlationanalysisforgamblingparticipationrates..................................................32

Table3:Regressionanalysistopredictgamblingparticipationrates....................................34

Table4:Standardisedregressioncoefficientsforgamblingparticipationrates................35

Table5:CorrelationanalysisforPGSIscore......................................................................................40

Table6:StepwiseregressiontopredictPGSIscore........................................................................41

Figures

Figure1:Gamblingbyage..........................................................................................................................27

Figure2:Gamblingbygender..................................................................................................................28

Figure3:Gambling,2016vs2010..........................................................................................................29

Figure4:PGSIbyageandseverity.........................................................................................................30

Figure5:Perceivedparticipationingambling..................................................................................37

Figure6:Approvalofgambling...............................................................................................................38



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Executive summary

Purpose of report

Thisreportpresentsthefindingsofastudythatexaminedtheprevalenceofgambling

andproblemgamblinginVictoria,howthesevarywithageandgenderandhowthese

haveevolvedfrom2010to2016.Thereportalsoinvestigateswhichfactorspredictan

individual’sgamblingfrequencyforeachof12gamblingactivitiesandwhichfactors

predictanindividual’sPGSIscore.Basedonthesefindings,suggestionsaremadeasto

howgambling‐relatedharmcouldbereduced.

Methodology

In June and July 2016, a representative sample of 3361 adult Victorians, aged 18 to 88 years,

were recruited by an online survey company, The Online Research Unit. Participants

completed an online survey in which they indicated their age, their gender, their country of

birth, the language spoken at home, their relationship status, where they lived, how often they

participated in each of 12 different types of gambling, to what degree they perceived others to

participate and approve of these 12 types of gambling, how often they saw gambling

advertisements, and how often they discussed gambling, both online and offline. They

additionally completed questionnaires to assess whether they were depressed, suffered from

low esteem, had high positive urgency, overestimated their chances of winning, believed

themselves to be lucky and had problems with gambling. The 12 different types of gambling

investigated in our survey were: Lottery tickets, Instant scratch tickets, Raffle or fund-raising

tickets, Betting on animal races, Sports betting, Gaming tables at casinos, Poker machines at

casinos, Poker machines at other venues, Card or board games, Games of skill, Arcade or

video gaming, and Internet gambling.

Major findings

GamblingishighlyprevalentinVictoria,moresothanpreviouslyacknowledged:

Approximately95%ofadultVictorianshadgambledinthepreviousyear

ApproximatelyhalfofadultVictorianshaveparticipatedmorethansixtimesin

atleastonegamblingactivityinthepreviousyear

Self‐reportedgamblingfrequencyvariesasafunctionofage,butdifferentlyfor

differenttypesofgamblingactivity:



8

GamblingparticipationratesincreasedwithageforLotterytickets,Raffleor

fund‐raisingticketsandPokermachinesatothervenues

Foradults25yearsandolder,gamblingparticipationdecreasedwithagefor

Sportsbetting,Gamingtablesatcasinos,Pokermachinesatcasinos,Cardorboard

games,Gamesofskill,ArcadeorvideogamingandInternetgambling

ForInstantscratchcards,participationratespeakedatthe25‐34yearoldage

category,butotherwisewereapproximatelyconstant

ForBettingonanimalraces,participationratespeakedatthe45‐54yearoldage

category,butotherwisewereapproximatelyconstant

Formostactivities,malesgambledmorethanfemales:

MalesgambledmorethanfemalesforLotterytickets,Bettingonanimalraces,

Sportsbetting,Gamingtablesatcasinos,Pokermachinesatcasinos,Cardorboard

games,Gamesofskill,Arcadeorvideogames,andInternetgambling

FemalesgambledmorethanmalesforRaffleorfund‐raisingtickets

GamblingrateswereapproximatelythesameformalesandfemalesforInstant

scratchticketsandPokermachinesatothervenues

Gamblingprevalencegenerallyincreasedfrom2010to2016:

Gamblingwasmoreprevalentin2016thanin2010forLottery tickets, Instant

scratch tickets, Raffle or fund-raising tickets, Sports betting, Card or board games,

Games of skill, Arcade or video gaming, and Internet gambling

Gambling was approximately the same in 2016 compared to 2010 for the following

activities: Betting on animal races, Gaming tables at casinos, Poker machines at

casinos, Poker machines at other venues

For no gambling activity was the frequency of gambling less in 2016 compared to

2010

Theprevalenceofhigh‐riskproblemgamblingisgreaterthanpreviouslythought:

Theprevalenceofhigh‐riskproblemgamblingvarieswithageandpeaksforthe

25‐34yearoldagegroupforwhichtheprevalencerateis23%

Averagedacrossallagegroups,theprevalencerateis11%

Thisisalittlehigherthanwhatwefoundin2010(8%)andmuchhigherthan

reportedbyHare(2015),whoreportedaprevalencerateof.8%



9

Predictorsofgamblingfrequencydependonthetypeofgambling,butthemost

reliablepredictorswere:

Thefrequencyofgamblingbyfamilyandpeers

Self‐reportedapprovalofgambling

Perceivedapprovalofgamblingbypeersandpeopleingeneral

Receivingpromotionalmaterials

Discussinggamblingoffline

Age

Gender

Overestimatingchancesofwinning

PGSI

Individualsoverestimatehowmuchothersgambleandapproveofgambling:

Individualsoverestimatetheextenttowhichothersgamble,withthe

overestimatebeingthemostextremeforthe“peopleingeneral”category

Similarly,theyoverestimatethedegreetowhich“peopleingeneral”approveof

gambling

Thetopfivepredictorsofanindividual’sPGSIscorewere:

Theirpositiveurgencyscore

Theirfrequencyofplayingpokermachinesatpubs,hotelsorsportingclubs

Theirfrequencyofdiscussingonlinebettingongamingtablesatcasinos

Theirfrequencyofgamblingontheinternet

Thedegreetowhichtheyoverestimatethechancesofwinning

Togetherthesefivefactorsaccountedfor91%oftheexplainablevariance

Basedonthesefindings,anumberofsuggestionsweremadetoreducegambling‐related

harm.



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Chapter 1 – Introduction

Background

ThisstudywasfundedbytheGrantsforGamblingResearchProgram(Round7)ofthe

VictorianResponsibleGamblingFoundation(VRGF).Thisgrantsystemwasestablished

in2006bytheVictorianDepartmentofJusticeandRegulationwiththeaimof

encouragingresearchersfromavarietyofdisciplinestoundertakeappliedgambling

research.

Thisprojectwasdesignedtocontributetothethemeof‘changinggambling

environments’establishedbytheVRGF’s2015‐18ResearchAgenda.Bothasmallpilot

studyandalarge‐scalestudywereconducted,bothofwhichfocusedsolelyonVictoria.

Forthelarge‐scalestudy,asampleof3361individualsweresurveyedtodeterminethe

prevalenceofgamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria.Asubsetoftheseresultswas

alsocomparedtothoseofour2010surveythatalsofocusedsolelyontheVictorian

population.Asthe2010surveyconsideredonly18to24yearolds,thecomparisons

betweenthetwosurveyswereconfinedtothatagegroup.Finally,weinvestigated

whichfactorspredictanindividual’sgamblingfrequencyforeachof12gambling

activitiesandtheindividual’sproblemgamblingseverityindex(PGSI)score.Ourwork

providesinsightintohowgamblinginVictoriacontinuestoevolveandindicateswhich

practicalinterventionsaremostlikelytoreducegambling‐relatedharm.

Research questions

Theaimofthisresearchprojectwastoanswerthefollowingthreeresearchquestions:

WhatwastheprevalenceofgamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoriain2016

andhowdoesthiscompareto2010?

Whichfactorspredictanindividual’sgamblingfrequencyforeachof12

gamblingactivitiesandwhichfactorpredictanindividual’sPGSIscore?

Howcangambling‐relatedharmbereduced?

Inansweringthefirstquestion,weconsideredhowageandgenderaffectparticipation

ratesforeachof12typesofgambling.Wechosetostudytheseparticulargambling

activitiesastheyweretheonesthatwestudiedin2010,therebyallowingustocompare

our2016datatoour2010data.



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HavingobtainedaclearunderstandingofthestateofgamblinginVictoriain2016,we

thenaskedwhichfactorspredictanindividual’sgamblingfrequencyforeachofthese12

gamblingactivitiesandtheindividual’sPGSIscore.Wewereinterestedinbothissues

because,asdiscussedinourliteraturereview,gambling‐relatedharmdoesn’tjuststem

fromproblemgambling.Infact,themajorityofgambling‐relatedharmoriginatesfrom

peopleatlowormoderateriskofproblemgambling,soitwouldbebeneficialtoreduce

gamblingparticipationratesfornon‐problemgamblers.Usingtheinformationwehad

obtaininourresearch,wethenmadepracticalrecommendationsforreducing

gambling‐relatedharm.

Project scope

Inthisproject,weconfinedourattentiontoadultgamblersagedfrom18to88inthe

stateofVictoria.Further,welimitourfocusto12specificformsofgambling.These

gamblingactivitieswere:

Lotterytickets

Instantscratchtickets

Raffleorfund‐raisingtickets

Bettingonanimalraces

Sportsbetting

Gamingtablesatcasinos

Pokermachinesatcasinos

Pokermachinesatothervenues

Cardsorboardgames

Gamesofskill

Arcadeorvideogaming

Internetgambling

Procedure

Wefirstundertookasystematicreviewofthegamblingresearchliteraturetofirst

determinewhatisknownabouttheprevalenceofgamblingandproblemgamblingin

Victoria.Wesurveyedtheliteraturetodeterminewhichfactorswerelikelytopredictan

individual’sgamblingfrequencyandPGSIscore.Basedonthisliteraturereview,we

decidedtoassessthefollowingfactorsinoursurvey:age,gender,countryofbirth,

languagespokenathome,relationshipstatus,whereourparticipantslived,howoften

theyparticipatedineachofthe12differenttypesofgambling,towhatdegreethey

approvedofeachofthe12differenttypesofgambling,towhatdegreetheyperceived



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otherstoparticipateandapproveofthese12typesofgambling,howoftentheysaw

gamblingadvertisements,howoftentheirreceivedpromotionalmaterialforgambling,

andhowoftentheydiscussedeachofthe12typesofgambling,bothonlineandoffline.

Additionally,weincludedpsychologicalmeasurestoassessthedegreetowhichthey

weredepressed,sufferedfromlowesteem,hadhighpositiveurgency,overestimated

theirchancesofwinning,believedthemselvestobeluckyandhadproblemswith

gambling.

Twostudieswereundertaken.Thefirst,apilotstudy,wasconductedusing53first‐year

Universitystudents.Thisstudywasperformedtodeterminewhetherthesurveywasan

appropriatelengthandtouncoveranydifficultiesorpotentialmisunderstandingswith

thesurveyitems.Accordingly,theparticipantsdiscussedthequestionswiththe

researchassistantaftertheyhadcompletedthestudy.Thesecondstudywasconducted

withalargesampleofVictorians.Toaccessthissample,whodonotnecessarilyhave

accesstoalandline,thesurveywasconductedonline.Participantswererecruitedbya

surveycompany,TheOnlineResearchUnit(ORU),whoguaranteedthattheparticipants

wererepresentativeofthegeneralpopulationintermsofthedistributionsoftheirages,

gendersandlocations.Finally,toensurethatwecouldreliablycomparethecurrent

project’sdatatothatobtainedinourpreviousstudy,thesurveywasconductedinthe

samemonthsastheprevioussurvey(JuneandJuly)sincesomeformsofgamblingshow

seasonalvariations.

Structure of the report

Thisreporthasfivechapters.Thisintroductorychapterhasprovidedthebackgroundto

theproject,includingitsaims,scopeandgeneralprocedure.Chapter2reviewsthe

Australianandinternationalliteratureexaminingtheprevalenceofgamblingand

problemgambling.Italsoexaminedthefactorsbelievedtopredictgamblingfrequency

andPGSIscore.Chapter3presentstheresultsfromthepilotstudyandChapter4

presentstheresultsfromourlarge‐scalesurveyofVictorianadults.Finally,Chapter5

discussestheresultsofthelarge‐scalesurveyandconcludesthereport.



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Chapter 2 – Literature review

Introduction

Aspartofthisresearchproject,wereviewedboththeAustralianandtheinternational

literatureongambling.Wefirstexaminedtheprevalenceofgamblingandgambling

problemsinVictoria.Wethenreviewedthefactorsthatpredictgamblingfrequencyand

PGSIscore.Inparticular,wefocusedonperceptionsofhowfrequentlyothersgamble

andapproveofgambling,theeffectsofadvertisements,promotionalmaterials,and

gamblingdiscussions,variousdemographicfactorsandvariouspsychologicalfactors.

Finally,wediscussedsomeissuesthatneedtobeconsideredwhenresearching

gambling.

The prevalence of gambling and gambling problems in Victoria

Apriori,onemightexpectthatanincreaseintheavailabilityofgamblingopportunities

wouldleadtogreaterparticipationingambling.Indeed,thisappearstobethecasein

Italy,wheretheliberalizationofgamblinghasledtoasignificantincreaseintheamount

ofmoneyspentongamblingactivities(Bastianietal.,2013).However,increasesinthe

availabilityofgamblinginVictoriahavebeenreportednottohaveledtomore

Victoriansgamblingortoanincreaseinproblemgambling(Abbottetal.,2016;VRGF,

2016).Indeed,participationingamblingbyVictoriansisthoughttohavedecreased

between2008and2012(Abbottetal.,2016)anditiscurrentlyestimatedthat30%of

thepopulationdonotgambleatall(VRGF,2016).Ithasbeenreported,however,that

therehasbeenachangeintherelativepopularityofthedifferenttypesofgambling

activities.Inparticular,hotelsandpubshavenowbecomethemostcommonlocationfor

gamblinginVictoria(Hare,2015).Giventhatgamblingratesareapparentlyeither

decreasingorstayingapproximatelyconstant,wewouldexpecttheprevalenceof

gamblinginour2016surveytobeeitherthesameorlessthanthatreportedbythe

VRGF(2016),asthatreportwasbasedonasurveyconductedin2014(Hare,2015).

Turningourattentiontoproblemgambling,wenotethatourpreviousstudyfound8%

ofVictorianstobeproblemgamblers(Boldero&Bell,2012a).Abbottetal.(2016)

reportasomewhatlowerprevalenceestimateof2.2%forproblemgamblers,

standardisedtocompensateforthemethodologicaldifferencesintheirsurvey.

Strangely,Hare(2015)reportedthatonly.8%ofindividualsinVictoriaareproblem

gamblers.



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Gamblingproblemsleadtosocial,financialand/orpsychologicalharmtotheindividual,

theirfamilyandfriendsalongwithsociety(Delfabbro,2012;Ferris&Wynne,2001;

Neal,Delfabbro&O’Neil,2005;Scholes‐Balog&Dowling,2017).However,those

classifiedasproblemgamblersarenotaloneinexperiencingharmfromgambling;those

classifiedasnotreachingthecriteriaforproblemgamblingalsoexperienceharm.For

example,Browneetal.(2016)foundthatlow‐risk,moderate‐risk,andproblem

gamblingaccountedfor50%,34%,and15%ofthetotalgambling‐relatedharm

experiencedbyVictorians.Forthisreason,thisreportwillfocusnotjustonthe

prevalenceofproblemgambling,butalsoonoverallgamblingparticipationrates.

Factors that predict gambling frequency and PGSI score

ThereareanumberoffactorsthatlikelypredictgamblingfrequencyandPGSIscore.We

willnowconsiderthesefactorsinturnandinthiswayjustifythecompositionofour

survey.

Perceptions of others

Itisknownthatanindividual’sgamblingfrequencyandtheprobabilitythattheyhave

gamblingproblemsarecorrelatedwithnotjustthedegreetowhichtheypersonally

approveofgambling(Bastianietal.,2013)butalsowiththedegreetowhichthey

believeothersgambleandapproveofgambling.Specifically,iftheybelievethatother

peoplegamblefrequentlyandapproveofgambling,theyaremorelikelytogambleand

aremorelikelytohavegamblingproblems(Boldero&Bell,2012b;Boldero,Bell&

Moore,2010;Delfabbro&Thrupp,2003;Fortuneetal.,2013;Larrimer&Neighbors,

2003;Moore&Ohtsuka,1999;Neighbors,etal.,2007;Pittetal.,2017).Despitethis

bodyofresearch,itisuncleartowhatextenttheperceptionsofhowfrequentlyothers

gambleandapproveofgamblingaffectsgamblingfrequencyandproblemgambling

relativetootherpotentialfactors.Inparticular,theseeffectsmightberelativelyminor

comparedtotheeffectscausedbyotherfactorsthatarealsoknowntoinfluence

gamblinghabits.Asecondconcernisthatitisnotclearwhoseopinionsandactions

matters.Forexample,itcouldbethatindividualsareonlyinfluencedbywhattheir

familyandpeersdoandbelieve.Alternatively,itmightbethattheyarealsoinfluenced

bywhatpeoplenotassociatedwiththemdoandbelieve.Asthepreviousliteraturehas

notsystematicallyinvestigatedeitheroftheseissues,addressingtheseissueswasoneof

theaimsofthecurrentstudy.



15

Advertising, promotional material, and discussing gambling

MonaghanandDerevensky(2008)arguedthatgamblingisoftenportrayedinaccurately

inthemedia.Inparticular,theeffectsofproblemgamblingarerarelyportrayedandfew

portrayalsofresponsiblegamblingareshown.(Foradiscussionofwhatmight

constituteresponsiblegambling,pleaseseeHing,Russell,andHronis(2016)).Likewise,

Derevensky,Sklar,Gupta,andMesserlian(2010)reportedthatgamblingadvertisements

portraygamblinginaninaccuratelypositivemanner,associatingitwithfun,excitement,

highsuccess,wealth,relieffromfinancialproblems,andescapefromreality.Deans,

Thomas,Derevenksy,andDaube(2017)reportedthattheirparticipantsfeltthatthe

sheervolumeofsportsbettingadvertisementsnormalisedsportsbettingandwas

effectiveatencouragingthemtobetonsports(seealsoLindsayetal.,2013).Indeed,the

volumeofsportsgamblingadvertisementsissuchthatevenchildrencanrecallthe

namesofsportsbettingbrands(Bestmanetal.,2015;Thomasetal.,2016).Additionally,

therearetypicallyveryfewvisibleoraudiblemessagesthataimtocounter‐framethe

overwhelminglypro‐gamblingmessage(Thomas,Lewis,Duong,McLeod,2012).Lee,

Lemanski,andJun(2008)foundexposuretogamblinginthemedialedtopositive

attitudestowardgamblingwhich,inturn,ledtostrongergamblingintentions.Likewise,

Pitt,ThomasandBestman(2016)reportthatmarketingmessagesareeffectiveatgiving

theimpressionthatgamblingisanintegralpartofthesportingexperience.

Unsurprisingly,exposuretogamblingadvertisementswasfoundtoaffectgambling

behaviourof16to19year‐olds(Friedetal.,2010)andisrelatedtothefrequencyof

gamblingofadolescentsandyoungadults(Clemens,Hanewinkel&Morgenstern,2017;

Felsheretal.,2004).Gamblingprovidersalsomakeextensiveuseofsocialmedia

(Gainsburyetal.,2015)andsocialmediacampaignsagainstgamblingaredrownedout

bypro‐gamblingcampaigns(Thomas,Lewis&Westberg,2015).Insummary,basedon

thisliterature,onewouldexpectthatadvertisements,receivingpromotionalmaterial

anddiscussinggamblingshouldincreasebothgamblingfrequencyandproblem

gambling.Consequently,weincludedthesefactorsinoursurvey.

Demographic factors

Gamblingparticipationandproblemgamblingincreasewithage,reachesarelatively

highlevelwhenindividualsareintheir20sand30s,andthendecreaseacrossthe

lifespan(Delfabbro,Lahn&Grabosky,2005;Delfabbro,Winefield&Anderson,2009;

Welteetal.,2011).Genderisalsoknowntoinfluencegambling,withmalesbeingmore

likelythanfemalestogamble(Abbottetal.,2016;Boldero&Bell,2012b;Bolderoetal.,

2010;Delfabbroetal.,2005,2009;Fried,Teichman&Rahav,2010;Goldsteinetal.,

2009;Jacksonetal.,2008;Martinsetal.,2008).Additionally,malesreportmore



16

gamblingproblemsthanfemales(Chiu&Storm,2010;Clark&Walker,2009;

Derevenskyetal.,2010;Dickson,Derevensky&Gupta,2008;Friedetal.,2010;King,

Abrams&Wilkinson,2010;Moldeetal.,2009;Parkeretal.,2008;Turneretal.,2008)

andaremorelikelytobeproblemgamblers(Huang&Boyer,2007;Leeetal.,2011;

Molde,etal.,2009;Scholes‐Balogetal.,2014).Finally,studiesthathavedifferentiated

betweenskill‐based(e.g.poker,cardgames)orchance‐based(e.g.,bingo,lotto)

activitieshavefoundthatmalespreferskill‐basedoneswhereasfemalesprefer

chanced‐basedones(Gausset&Jansbøl,2009),thoughAasved(2003)foundthatmales

andfemalesareequallylikelytoplaypokermachinesinbothcasinosandothervenues.

Femalesaremorelikelytoparticipateinscratchtickets,bingo,phone/SMScompetitions

andinraffles/sweeps(Hingetal.,2014).IndividualswhowerenotborninAustralia,

individualswhospeakalanguageotherthanEnglishathome,andindividualswholive

inmetropolitanversusruralareasaremorelikelytobeproblemgamblers(Abbottetal.,

2016).Finally,giventhestrainthatproblemgamblingplacesonrelationships(Ferris&

Wynne,2001),weexpectedproblemgamblerswouldbelesslikelytobeina

relationship.Consequently,inoursurveyweincludedthedemographicfactorsofage,

gender,countryofbirth,languagespokenathome,relationshipstatusandlocationof

residence.

Psychological factors

Morefrequentgamblingisrelatedtodepression(Chiu&Storm,2010;Desai&Potenza,

2008;Griffiths,1995)and,comparedtothosewhoarenotproblemgamblers,problem

gamblersreporthigherlevelsofdepression(Moldeetal.,2009butseeScholes‐Baloget

al,2015).Similarly,self‐esteemtendstobelowerinindividualswhoareproblem

gamblersthanthosewhoarenotproblemgamblers(Potenzaetal.,2011).Indeed,itis

thoughtthatlowlevelsofesteemresultinincreasedgambling(Rockloff&Dyer,2006).

Sensationseekingandimpulsivityareassociatedwithmorefrequentgambling

(McDaniel&Zuckerman,2003)andgamblingproblems(Chiu&Storm,2010;Dussault

etal.,2011).CydersandSmith(2008a)foundthatthetendencytoactrashlywhenina

positivemood(i.e.,positiveurgency)wasassociatedwithlongitudinalincreasesin

students’gamblingbehaviourduringthefreshmanyearwhereasthetendencytoact

rashlywhenupset(i.e.,negativeurgency)wasnot.

Youngpeoplewhoareproblemgamblersbelievethattheyare“luckier”thannon‐

problemgamblers(Chiu&Storm,2010)andstudents’morefrequentgamblingis

associatedwithhavingmoreinaccurateorerroneousgamblingcognitions(Moodie,



17

2008),suchasbelievingthatthatonecaninfluencegamblingoutcomes.Steenbergh,

Meyers,MayandWhelan(2002)foundthatoverestimatingone’schancesofwinningat

gambling,afactortheylabelledluck/perseverance,andhavingillusionsofcontrolover

gamblingoutcomesdifferentiatedcollegestudentsandcommunitymemberswho

gamblefromthosewhodonot,butnotbetweenpathologicalandproblemgamblers

(i.e.,thosewhogamblecompulsivelyandthosewhoexperienceproblemsasaresultof

theirgambling;Blaszczynski&Nower,2002).

Takentogether,theresultsofthesestudiessuggestthatpeoplearemorelikelyto

gambleiftheyhavehigherlevelsofdepression,lowerlevelsofesteem,havehigher

levelsofpositiveurgency,over‐estimatetheirchancesofwinningandhaveinaccurate

orerroneousgamblingcognitions.Consequently,weincludedallthesefactorsinour

survey.

Research issues

Someresearchershavespeculatedthatparticipatinginspecificgamblingactivities(e.g.,

scratchcards,ElectronicGamingMachines[EMGs],andinternetgambling)aremore

problematicthanparticipatinginotheractivities(Binde,2011;Griffiths,2002;Griffiths,

2008;ProductivityCommission,2009).Forexample,Olasonetal.(2011)foundthatthe

prevalenceofproblemgamblingtendedtobemuchhigheramonginternetgamblers

thannon‐internetgamblers.Thegamblingactivitiesthataremorelikelytoleadto

problemgamblingseemtodifferbetweencountries(Welte,Barnes,Tidwell&Hoffman,

2009).Forexample,inBritainandNewZealandscratchcardandEGMgamblingare

morelikelytoleadtoproblemgambling(Clarke&Rossen,2000;Griffiths,1995a;Wood

&Griffiths,1998)whereasintheUnitedStatesitisbettingoncardgames,sportsevents,

andgamesofskillthatappeartobemorelikelytoleadtoproblemgambling(Engwall,

Hunter&Steinberg,2004;Welte,Barnes,Tidwell&Hoffman,2007;Winters,Stinchfield

&Fulkerson,1993).Itis,therefore,necessarytodistinguishbetweenthedifferent

gamblingactivitieswhenconsideringgamblingfrequencyandproblemgambling.

Onedifficultywefacedisthatindividualsparticipateinmorethanoneactivityand

patternsofgamblingparticipationarerelativelycomplex.Weaddressedthisissueby

firstconsideringeachactivityalone,inisolationfromtheothers.Thisallowedusto

determinewhichfactorspredictparticipationineachgamblingactivity.Wethen

combineddatafrommultiplegamblingactivitiestopredictPGSIscore.



18

Conclusions

Ourreviewoftheliteraturesuggeststhatgamblingfrequencyandproblemgamblingare

bothlikelytobeassociatedwiththedegreetowhichanindividual’sfamilyandpeers,as

wellaspeopleingeneral,areperceivedtobothparticipateingamblingandtoapprove

ofgambling.Further,itislikelythatseeingadvertisementsandreceivingpromotional

materialsforgamblingactivities,alongwithdiscussingtheseactivitiesonlineand

offline,willinfluencegamblingfrequencyandPGSIscore.However,alongsidethese

socialandbehaviouralfactors,otherfactorsarealsolikelytoberelevant.Thesefactors

includedemographiccharacteristicssuchasage,gender,countryofbirth,language

spokenathome,relationshipstatusandlocation.Inaddition,psychologicalfactors,such

asdepressionandlowesteem,alongwiththetendencytobehaverashlywheninagood

mood(positiveurgency),alongwithdistortedgamblingcognitionssuchas

overestimatingthechancesofwinningandbelievingthatonecaninfluenceone’s

chances,arelikelytoinfluencegamblingbehaviours.Ourstudywasdesignedto

investigatetherelativecontributionsofalltheseseparatefactorstobothgambling

frequencyandPGSIscore.Sincethesefactorshadpreviouslybeenstudiedinisolation,

wehadlittleideaoftheirrelativeimportance.Onlybystudyingthemalltogether,could

thisbeassessed.



19

Chapter 3 – Pilot study

Introduction

Ourresearchstrategywastofirstcarryoutapilotstudy,usingasmallsampleof

universitystudents.Thepurposeofthispilotstudywastodetermineiftherewereany

problemsormisunderstandingswithanyofoursurveyitemsandifoursurveywasan

appropriatelength.Oursurveycompany,theOnlineResearchUnit(ORU),hadinformed

usthatifoursurveyweretotakelongerthan20minutes,itwouldlikelyhavean

unacceptablyhighdrop‐outrate.Wewerethereforekeentoensurethatoursurveytook

themajorityofparticipantslessthan20minutestocompletewhilesimultaneously

ensuringthatallitsitemswerereadilycomprehensible.

Method

Participants

Fifty‐threeundergraduatestudentswererecruited,butonedroppedoutbefore

completingthesurvey,soisnotincludedinouranalysis.Oftheremainingparticipants,

21weremales(40%)andallwereagedbetween18and29years(meanage19.52

years,SD=2.53).Participantswepaid$12tocompensatethemfortheirtime.

Procedure

TheparticipantswerepresentedwithoursurveyusingtheQualtricsonlinesurvey

platform.ThesurveyquestionsarelistedinAppendixBandarediscussedinmoredetail

inthenextchapter.Inbrief,theyassessedtheperceptionsofhowoftenothersgamble

andapproveofgambling,theextenttowhichparticipantshadseenadvertisementsor

hadreceivedpromotionalmaterialforeachofthe12formsofgambling,theextentto

whichparticipantsdiscussedthesegamblingactivitiesonlineandofflineinthepast

year,theextenttowhichparticipantshadengagedinthesegamblingactivitiesinthe

pastyear,variouspsychologicalfactors,variousdemographiccharacteristics,and

gamblingproblems.Oncetheparticipantshadcompletedthesurvey,theythen

discussedthequestionswiththeresearchassistant.Thesediscussionsweredesignedto

uncoveranydifficultiesorpotentialmisunderstandingswiththesurveyitems.The

surveydataitselfwasnotanalysed



20

Results

Ofthe52studentswhocompletedourpilotstudy,onlythree(6%)indicatedany

difficultieswiththesurveyquestions.Thesestudentscommented:

“IfindthatitissometimeshardtoprovideanaccurateresponseforwhatIperceivethe

generalpeoplethinkofgamblinganditissometimesdifficultformetorecallactivities

thatIhaveengagedwith6to12monthsago.”

“ThequestionsabouthowoftenIthoughtthegeneralpublicgambledetc.wereabit

difficultasIfoundithardtoconsiderwhatwasmeantbythegeneralpublic,andI

supposeIdon'tknowthatmuchaboutgamblinghabitsofAustraliaoverall.Thequestion

thataskedmetoanswerquestionsasagambler:Iwasunsureifitmeanttoanswer

themaswhatIperceivedofmostgamblers(Iansweredlikethis),orthatIshould

answerthemasifhowIwouldviewthemifIpersonallygambled.”

“Ifoundthewordingofthequestionsaboutrespondingtostatementsasthoughyou

wereagambleralittleconfusing.”

Accordingly,giventhat94%ofthestudentsamplehadnodifficultieswithquestions,we

didnotchangeanyoftheitemsforthemainstudy.Further,almostall(92%)

individualscompletedthesurveyinunder20minutes,withamediantimeof11.4

minutes.

Conclusions

Theresultsofthispilotstudyindicatedthatoursurveyquestionswerecomprehensible

andwereappropriateforuseinourlargerfieldstudy.Further,mostparticipants

completeditinunder20minutes,soitsatisfiedtherequirementsofourrecruitment

company,theORU.



21

Chapter 4 – Survey of a representative sample of

Victorian adults

Introduction

ThischapterpresentstheresultsofasurveyofarepresentativesampleofVictorian

adultsthatwasdesignedtoaddressourresearchquestions.Westartbydetailingour

methodology.Wethendiscusstheprevalenceofgamblingandgambling‐related

problems.Specifically,wediscusshowitvariesasafunctionofageandgender,aswell

ashowithasevolvedfrom2010to2016.Weconcludebydiscussingwhichfactors

predictgamblingandgambling‐relatedproblems.

Participants

OurparticipantswererecruitedbyTheOnlineResearchUnit(ORU).TheORUisan

AustralianresearchcompanyandiscertifiedbytheInternationalOrganizationfor

Standardization(ISO20252andISO26362).TheORUmaintainsapanelofindividuals

whohaveagreedtoparticipateinsurveyssenttothem.Participationiscompletely

voluntaryandparticipantscanwithdrawatanytimewithoutcostorpenalty.Amixof

incentivesincludingvouchersandcharitabledonationsofsmallvalueisprovidedto

participantsviatheORU.

OftheindividualscontactedbytheORUinJuneorJuly2016,3361agreedtoparticipate.

Whenrecruitingparticipants,theORUattemptedtomatchoursampleforage,sexand

location(Melbournevsregional)tothegeneralVictorianpopulationasdeterminedby

thedemographicdatasuppliedbythe2011AustralianBureauofStatistics(ABS)survey.

(Thedatafromthe2016ABSsurveyhadnotyetbeenreleased.)AppendixAcompares

thedemographicsofoursampletothedemographicsobtainedinthe2011ABSsurvey.

Onethousandsixhundredandeightparticipants(48%)weremaleand1743(52%)

werefemale.Participantsrangedinagefrom18to88years(meanage=46.7,SD=

16.7).Twothousandthreehundredandseventy‐five(71%)livedinthemetropolitan

areaofMelbourne,and986(29%)livedinnon‐metropolitanVictoria,reflectingthe

Victorianbiastowardthemetropolitanarea.Themajorityofparticipantsreportedthat

theywereborninAustralia(77%)andwereinarelationship(62%).Finally,94%

reportedthatthelanguagetheyspokeathomewasEnglish.



22

Measures

Demographic characteristics

Participantswereaskedtoprovideinformationabouttheirage,sex,countryofbirth,

relationshipstatus,themainlanguagetheyspokeathomeandthepostcodeoftheir

residence.

Gambling frequency

Participantswereaskedtoindicatewhethertheyhadparticipatedin12commonly‐

availablegamblingactivitiesduringthepastyear,specifically:Lottery tickets, Instant

scratch tickets, Raffle or fund-raising tickets, Betting on animal races, Sports betting, Gaming

tables at casinos, Poker machines at casinos, Poker machines at other venues, Card or board

games, Games of skill, Arcade or video gaming, and Internet gambling.These12gambling

activitieswerechosenastheyhavebeenassessedinourpreviousstudy(Boldero&Bell,

2012b).Theseactivitieswerenotspecificallydefinedbutexamplesofeachwere

provided(e.g.,poolanddartsinthecaseofgamesofskill).

Ifparticipantsindicatedthattheyhadparticipatedinanyoftheseactivities,theywere

thenaskedtoindicatewhethertheyhadparticipatedmoreorlessthansixtimes.We

wereconcernedthattheresponsesofparticipantsmightbebiasedbythefrequency

optionspresentedtothem.Consequently,weusedthesamefrequencyoptionsaswe

hadusedinourpreviousstudy(Boldero&Bell,2012b),tofacilitatecomparisons

betweenthesetwostudies.

Inaddition,participantswereaskedtoindicatewhethertheybelievedthattheirfamily,

peers,andpeopleingeneralhadparticipatedineachofthe12activitiesinthepastyear,

andiftheybelievedtheyhad,whethertheybelievedthiswasmoreorlessthansix

times.Weaskedthemtoanswerthisquestionasiftheywereagambler.Wephrased

thesequestionsinthismannerasthiswasthemannerinwhichBolderoandBell

(2012b)phrasedtheirquestions,therebyallowingustocompareourresultstotheirs.

Approval of gambling

Participantswereaskedtoindicatetheextenttowhichtheyapprove,on5‐pointLikert

scalesfromstronglydisapprove(1)tostronglyapprove(5),ofeachofthe12gambling

activitiessurveyed.Theyalsoindicatedtheextentstowhichtheybelievedthattheir

family,theirpeers,andgeneralpopulationseparatelyapproveofgamblingonthese12

gamblingactivities.



23

Advertisements, promotional materials, and gambling‐related discussions

Participantswereaskedtoindicatewhethertheyhadseenadvertisementsforeachof

the12gamblingactivitiesofinterestandwhethertheyhadreceivedanypromotional

material(e.g.,a‘flyer’inthemail)inthepastyear.Iftheyindicatedthattheyhadseen

advertisementsorreceivedpromotionalmaterial,theywereaskedwhetherornotthis

occurredmoreorlessthansixtimesinthepastyear.Participantswerealsoasked

whethertheyhaddiscussedanyofthe12gamblingactivitieseitheronline(e.g.,via

Facebook,Twitter,orInstagram)oroffline(e.g.,inpersonwithanotherindividualoron

thetelephone)inthepastyear.Iftheyhad,theywereaskedtoestimateforeach

gamblingactivitywhetherthisoccurredmoreorlessthansixtimes.

Psychological factors and erroneous gambling cognitions

Inoursurveyweneededtoassessvariouspsychologicalfactorsanderroneous

gamblingcognitions.Toavoidthesurveybecomingoverlylong,weusedtheshorter

versionsofthesescalesthatwedevelopedinourpreviousstudy(Boldero&Bell,

2012b).Accordingly,eachscalecontainedonlyfouritemsexceptforthePGSIscale

whereweusedthestandard9items(Ferris&Wynne,2001).

Depression

Participantswereaskedtoindicatetheextenttowhichtheyagreed,on5‐pointLikert

scalesfromrarelyornoneofthetime(1)toalwaysormostofthetime(5),thattheyfelt

lonely,thattheyfeltsad,thattheyfeltdepressedandthattheycouldnotshakeoffthe

bluesevenwiththehelpoffamilyandfriends.Thesefouritemswereobtainedfromthe

CenterforEpidemiologicStudiesDepressionScale(Radloff,1977).Thescaleassessed

bytheseitemshadadequateinternalconsistency,Cronbach’sα=.92.

Low esteem

ThesurveyusedfouritemsfromRockloffandDyer’s(2006)lowesteemscale,

developedusingresponsesfromafocusgroupofGamblersAnonymousmembers.

Participantsindicatedtheextenttowhichtheyagreed,on5‐pointLikertscalesfrom

rarelyornoneofthetime(1)toalwaysormostofthetime(5),thattheyareoften

incompetent,thattheyfeelcompletelyworthless,thattheyaremiserabletobearound

andthattheyrarelyliveuptotheirownvaluesandstandards.Thescaleassessedby

thesefouritemshadadequateinternalconsistency,Cronbach’sα=.88.



24

Positive urgency

WeusedfouritemsfromCydersandassociates’(Cyders&Smith,2008b;Cyders,Smith,

Spillane,Fischer,Annus&Peterson,2007)scaletoassesspositiveurgency.Participants

wereaskedtoindicatetheextenttowhichtheyagreed,on5‐pointLikertscalesrarelyor

noneofthetime(1)toalwaysormostofthetime(5),thatwhentheyareinagoodmood

theygetintosituationsthatcouldcausethemproblems,thatwhentheyareveryhappy

theycannotseemtostopthemselvesfromdoingthingsthathavebadconsequences,

thatwhentheyareoverjoyedtheyfeelliketheycannotstopthemselvesfromgoing

overboard,andthattheytendtolosecontrolwhentheyareinagreatmood.Thescale

assessedbythesefouritemshadadequateinternalconsistency,Cronbach’sα=.91.

Overestimating the chance of winning (OCW)

WeusedthefouritemsfromBreenandZuckerman’s(1999)GamblingAttitudesand

BeliefsSurveytoassessthedegreetowhichourparticipantsoverestimatedthechance

ofwinningatgambling.Participantswereaskedtoindicate,regardlessofwhetherthey

gambledornot,theextenttowhichtheyagreedthat,on5‐pointLikertscalesfrom

stronglydisagree(1)tostronglyagree(5)sometimesthattheyjust‘know’theyaregoing

tohavegoodluck,thatiftheyhavelosttheirbetsrecentlytheirluckisboundtochange,

thatsometimestheythinktheyhavethepowerto‘will’theirnumberstocomeupin

gamblinggames,andthatiftheyconcentratehardenoughtheyareabletoinfluence

whethertheywinwhentheyplaythepokies.Thescaleassessedbythesefouritemshad

adequateinternalconsistency,Cronbach’sα=.88.

Luck/perseverance

ThisfactorwasassessedusingthefouritemsfromSteenberghetal.’s(2002)measureto

assessluck/perseverance.Theseitemsaskedparticipantstoindicatetheextentto

whichtheyagreed,on5‐pointLikertscalesfromstronglydisagree(1)tostronglyagree

(5),regardlessofwhetherornottheygambled,thatshouldtheygamblethereare

certainthingsthattheycandowhengamblingthatwouldincreasetheirchancesof

winning,thatitdoesnotmatterwherethemoneytogamblecomesfrombecausethey

willwinandpayitback,thatiftheycontinuetogambleitwilleventuallypayoffand

theywillmakemoney,andthattheyshouldkeepthesamebetevenwhenithasnotwon

becauseitisboundtowin.Thescaleassessedbythesefouritemshadadequateinternal

consistency,Cronbach’sα=.94.



25

Gambling problems

Gamblingproblemswereassessedusingthe9‐itemPGSIscale(Ferris&Wynne,2001).

The9‐itemversionofthisscalehasbeenusedinanumberofgeneralpopulation

surveysinAustralianjurisdictions,includingVictoriatoassessproblemgambling

(Abbotetal.,2016;DepartmentofJustice,2009;Hare,2015).Itwasdesignedtoassess

theprevalenceofgamblingproblemsinthecommunityratherthaninclinicalsamples,

isinternallyconsistent,andhasconcurrentvaliditywithotherproblemgambling

measures(Jacksonetal.,2010).Participantsratedeachitemona4‐pointLikertscale:

never(1),sometimes(2),mostofthetime(3)oralmostalways(4).Afifthcategory,don’t

know,wasalsoincluded.Thescalehadadequateinternalconsistency,Cronbach’sα=

.96.

Results

OuranalysiswasconductedusingIBMSPSSversion22(IBMCorp,2013).Themedian

responsetimeforthissurveywas12.9minutes,whichwassimilartothemedian

responsetimeforthepilotsurvey,whichwas11.4minutes.Thisindicatesthatthe

surveywasnotoverlylongandtaxingfortheparticipants,whichotherwisemighthave

affectedbothparticipationratesandthequalityofthedata.

The prevalence of gambling and problem gambling in Victoria

Table1showstheprevalenceofgamblinginVictoriaasafunctionofage.Wecansee

thatthevastmajorityofVictorianshaveparticipatedinatleastoneformofgamblingin

thepreceding12months.Furthermore,abouthalfcouldbedescribedasregular

gamblersinthattheyhaveparticipatedinatleastonegamblingactivitymorethansix

timesinthepreceding12months.Theseresultsshowthatgamblingiscommonin

Victoria.



26

Table1:Prevalenceofgambling

PercentageofVictoriansself‐reportingparticipatinginatleastonegamblingactivityandparticipatinginat

leastonegamblingactivitymorethansixtimesinthepastyear.

Agegroup

18‐

24years

25‐

34years

35‐

44years

45‐

54years

55‐

64years

65

yearsor

older

Atleastone

activity 95 88 94 96 98 99

Oneactivity

morethansix

times 36 47 48 58 61 54

Figure1extendsthisanalysisbyshowinghowgamblingparticipationratesvariedasa

functionofageforeachofthe12gamblingactivitiesthatwestudied.Chi‐squaretests

revealedthatthereweresignificantvariationswithageforalltheactivities.Itincreased

withageforLotteryticketsand,toalesserextent,forRaffleorfund‐raisingticketsand

Pokermachinesatothervenues.Forallothergamblingactivities,itfirstincreasedthen

decreasedwithage.



Figure1:Gamblingbyage.

ClusteredbargraphsforthepercentageofVictoriansself‐reportingparticipatinginthe12surveyedgamblingactivitiesinthepreviousyearasafunctionofagegroup.Clusters

markedwithasterisksindicateastatisticallysignificantchi‐squareassociationbetweentheindividualgamblingactivityandparticipants’agegroup.N18‐24=388,N25‐34=593,N35‐44=

565,N45‐54=567,N55‐64=643,N65+=605.*p<.05;**p<.01;***p<.001.



Figure2showshowgamblingvariedasafunctionofgender.Consistentwithprevious

reports(Hare,2015),formostactivitiesmalesgambledmorethanfemales.Onlyfor

InstantscratchticketsandPokermachinesatothervenuesdidmalesandfemalesgamble

atcomparablerates.Additionally,femalesgambledmorethanmalesforRaffleorfund‐

raisingtickets.

Figure2:Gamblingbygender

Clustered bar graphs for the percentage of males and females self-reporting participating in the 12 surveyed gambling activities

as a function of participation frequency in the last year. Clusters marked with asterisks indicate a statistically significant chi-

square association between the individual gambling activity and participants’ gender. Nmales = 1618, Nfemales = 1743. *p < .05;

**p < .01; ***p < .001.



Figure3showshowgamblingparticipationratesin2016comparedtothosein2010,foreachof

the12gamblingactivities.ForBettingonanimalraces,Gamingtablesatcasinos,Pokermachinesat

casinosandPokermachinesatothervenuestherewasnosignificantdifferencebetween2010and

2016participationrates.Fortheothereightgamblingactivities,chi‐squaretestsrevealedthat

participationratesweresignificantlygreaterin2016thanin2010.

Figure3:Gambling,2016vs2010

Clusteredbargraphsforthepercentageofyoungadults(18‐24yearsold)self‐reportingparticipatinginthe12

surveyedgamblingactivitiesasafunctionofyear(2010and2016)andparticipationfrequency.Clustersmarkedwith

asterisksindicateastatisticallysignificantchi‐squareassociationbetweenyearandtheindividualgamblingactivity.

N2010=1000,N2016=388.The2010datawasobtainedfrom“Chance‐andSkill‐BasedDimensionsUnderlyingYoung

Australians'GamblingActivitiesandTheirRelationshipswithGamblingProblemsandOtherFactors,”byJ.Bolderoand

R.Bell,2012,InternationalGamblingStudies,12,p.152.*p<.05;**p<.01;***p<.001.



30

Finally,Figure4showshowproblemgamblingvariedasafunctionofage.Achi‐squaretest

revealedthatproblemgamblingdidvarywithage(X2(15,n=3348)=196.9,p=<.001).Inspecting

thegraphsshowsthatitwasgreatestfor25‐34yearolds.Figure4alsocomparestheprevalence

ofproblemgamblingin2016to2010.Itshouldbenotedthatthis2010study(whichwas

differentfromthe2010studydiscussedabove,seefigurecaptionforreference)utilised

undergraduatestudents,whereasthecurrentstudyutilisedarepresentativesampleofVictorians.

Furthermore,noneoftheagecategoriesutilisedinthecurrentstudyaredirectlyequivalentto

thatutilisedbythis2010study.However,sincethemeanageforthe2010studywas21yearsold,

themostcomparableagecategoryforthecurrentstudywouldbe18‐24yearsold.Basedonthis

comparison,ourdatasuggestthatthereislikelytohavebeenagreaterfractionofhigh‐risk

gamblersin2016thanin2010

Figure4:PGSIbyageandseverity

ClusteredbargraphforthepercentageofVictorian’sineachPGSIgamblersub‐type(non‐gambler,low‐risk,moderate‐

risk,high‐risk)asafunctionofagegroupandyear(2010and2016).Asterisksindicateastatisticallysignificantchi‐

squareassociationbetweenPGSIgamblertypeandparticipants’agegroup,excluding2010surveydata.PGSI=Problem

gamblingseverityindex.Samplesize,peryear:N2010=370,N2016=3361.Samplesize,agegroup(2016dataonly):N18‐24

=388,N25‐34=593,N35‐44=565,N45‐54=567,N55‐64=643,N65+=605.The2010datafrom“Anevaluationofthefactor

structureoftheProblemGamblingSeverityIndex,”byJ.BolderoandR.Bell,2012,InternationalGamblingStudies,12,p.

97.

Insummary,ourresultsshowthatgamblingishighlyprevalentinVictoria,withtheoverwhelming

majorityofpeoplehavinggambledatleastonceinthepreviousyear.Approximately,halfofthese

peoplecouldbeclassifiedasregulargamblers,participatinginatleastonegamblingactivitymore

thansixtimesperyear.Fromourdataitisclearthatsomeformsofgambling(e.g.lotterytickets)



31

aremorepopularthanotherformsofgambling.Furthermore,anumberofgamblingactivities,

suchaslotterytickets,becomemorepopularwithage.Asexpected,wefoundthat,ingeneral,men

gambledmorethanwomen,exceptforInstantscratchticketsandPokermachinesatothervenues

forwhichtheygambledatcomparablerates,andforRaffleorfundraisingticketsforwhichwomen

gambledmorethanmen.Formostgamblingactivities,participationrateshaveincreasedfrom

2010to2016.TheexceptionsareBettingonanimalraces,Gamblingtablesatcasinos,Poker

machinesatcasinosandPokermachinesatothervenues.Forthesegamblingactivities,

participationrateshavestayedconstant.Finally,ourdatasuggestthattherateofhigh‐risk

problemgamblingmayhaveslightlyincreasedfrom2010to2016,thoughthisresultmustbe

interpretedwithcautionasthedemographicsofthesamplesweredifferentinthetwostudies.

The factors that predict gambling and problem gambling

Toinvestigatewhichfactorsareassociatedwithgamblingparticipationratesweconsideredeach

ofthe12gamblingactivitiesinturnandperformedacorrelationanalysis.Theresultsofthis

analysisareshowninTable2.Wefoundthat13ofourvariablesweresignificantlycorrelatedwith

participationratesforallgamblingactivities,9variablesweresignificantlycorrelatedwith

participationratesformostofthegamblingactivitiesandonevariablewassignificantlycorrelated

withparticipationratesforhalfthegamblingactivities.Theseveryhighratesofcorrelationare

notsurprisingasthesevariableswerespecificallychosenbecausepreviousstudieshadshown

thattheywerecorrelatedwithgamblingparticipationrates,asreviewedinChapter2.

Whilethisanalysisdemonstratedthatourdataisbroadlyconsistentwiththepreviousliterature,

wecangobeyondthisanalysisbyperformingalinearregression.Aregressionanalysisallowsus

todeterminewhichvariablesareactuallyneededtopredictgamblingparticipationrates.Just

becauseavariableiscorrelatedwithgamblingparticipationratesdoesnotnecessarilymeanthat

alinearregressionwillfindittobeausefulpredictor.Itcouldbethatthereareotherbetter

predictorsandwhentheseareconsidered,ithasnoadditionalpredictivevalue.



Table2:Correlationanalysisforgamblingparticipationrates

Spearmanrankordercoefficients(rs)betweenVictorians’self‐reportedparticipationin12gamblingactivitiesandallvariablesofinterest.

Variables

Self-reported participation in gambling activity

Lottery tickets Instant

scratch tickets

Raffle or fund-raising

tickets Betting on

animal races Sports betting

Gaming tables at casinos

Poker machines at

casinos

Poker machines at other venues

Cards or board games Games of skill

Arcade or video gaming

Internet gambling

rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs Participation in gambling

Family members .46** .51** .54** .46** .40** .48** .52** .52** .60** .58** .58** .49** Peers .43** .35** .47** .41** .35** .38** .37** .39** .43** .39** .38** .38** People in general .23** .14** .25** .13** .04* .06** .10** .14** .14** .11** .12** .10**

Approval of gambling Self-reported .49** .34** .35** .49** .48** .33** .38** .49** .29** .24** .26** .46** Family members .36** .29** .30** .33** .31** .22** .27** .32** .25** .21** .20** .29** Peers .26** .20** .28** .25** .24** .18** .18** .23** .23** .17** .17** .26**

People in general .15** .06** .21** .03 .02 -.01 .04* .11** .13** .05** .09** .09**

Exposure to advertisement Seeing ads .24** .19** .35** .25** .08** .21** .20** .16** .30** .35** .42** .18** RPM .18** .25** .31** .33** .38** .37** .33** .28** .37** .47** .50** .31**

Participating in discussions Online .10** .29** .19** .33** .41** .42** .34** .27** .47** .54** .57** .42** Offline .36** .42** .38** .48** .43** .44** .41** .42** .55** .58** .60** .41**

Demographic variables Age .28** -.06** .15** -.03 -.24** -.22** -.11** .07** -.22** -.23** -.24** -.17** Gendera -.09** .02 .03 -.16** -.25** -.14** -.02 -.03 -.09** -.12** -.10** -.17** COBa .00 .03 .07** .10** .04* .01 -.01 .09** -.05** .00 .01 .04* LSHa .04* .01 .09** .07** -.02 -.05** -.03 .07** -.07** -.03 -.04** -.01 Relationship statusa .14** .07** .15** .06** .03 .04* .04* .05** .01 .01 .01 .00 Locationa -.01 -.02 -.08** .02 .09** .11** .12** -.02 .10** .07** .08** .06**

Psychological factors Depression -.06** .09** -.02 .07** .15** .16** .13** .12** .18** .23** .24** .21**

Low esteem -.03 .09** .00 .07** .16** .17** .13** .12** .19** .25** .26** .22**

Positive urgency .02 .18** .05** .18** .28** .30** .24** .20** .31** .35** .35** .30** OCW .14** .25** .06** .23** .29** .31** .29** .24** .26** .29** .29** .26** Luck/Perseverance .04* .16** .07** .11** .18** .19** .16** .13** .17** .22** .21** .17**

PGSI score .20** .29** .13** .38** .46** .45** .41** .45** .34** .37** .36** .45**

Note. N = 3361. COB = Country of birth; LSH: Main language spoken at home; OCW = Overestimating chances of winning, PGSI = Problem gambling severity index, PRM = Receiving promotional material. COBa: 0 = Other, 1 = Australia. Gendera: 0 = male, 1 = female. Locationa: 0 = Rural, 1 = Metropolitan. LSHa: 0 = Other, 1 = English. Relationship statusa: 0 = Other, 1 = Married or living with a partner. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001

Gamblingandproblemgamblingin Howeetal.201


Tobeclear,ifalinearregressionsfindsavariabletobesignificantpredictor,thisdoesnotprovea

causalrelationshipexistsbetweenthetwovariables.Ultimately,regressionanalysescannotprove

causationrelationships,forthesamereasonsthatcorrelationanalysescannotprovecausal

relationships(Aldrich,1995).However,justasthelackofasignificantcorrelationcanbetakenas

evidenceagainstasignificantcausalrelationshipbetweentwovariables,barringtype2errorsand

assuminganycausalrelationshipbetweenthetwovariableswouldbemonotonic,sothefinding

thatalinearregressionindicatesthataparticularvariableisnotasignificantpredictorofasecond

variablecanbetakenasevidenceforalackofanimmediatecausalrelationshipbetweenthetwo

variables.Linearregressionscansuggestwhatthecausalrelationshipsbetweenvariablesmight

be,butcannotbetakenasproofoftheserelationships.

Fortheregressionanalysis,weconsideredeachgamblingactivityinturn.Thedependentvariable

wastheself‐reportedgamblingfrequencyforthatgamblingactivity.Thepredictorswere:

perceivedparticipationingambling(familymembers,peersandpeopleingeneral),approvalof

gambling(self‐reported,familymembers,peersandpeopleingeneral),frequencyofseeingadds,

frequencyofreceivingpromotionalmaterial,frequencyofparticipatinginonlinediscussions,

frequencyofparticipatinginofflinediscussions,age,gender,countryofbirth,languagespokenat

home,relationshipstatus,location,depression,lowesteem,positiveurgency,overestimating

chancesofwinning,perceivedluck/perseverance,PGSIrating.AsshowninTable3,forall

gamblingactivities,theregressionfitwashighlysignificantwithp<.001andwitheachregression

explainingapproximately50%ofthevarianceinthedata.

GamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria

Howeetal.2018


34

Table3:Regressionanalysistopredictgamblingparticipationrates

ModelsummarystatisticsforaseriesoflinearregressionanalysespredictingVictorians’self‐reportedparticipation

ratesineachof12gamblingactivities.

Gambling activity


R2 F dfReg, dfRes P

Lottery tickets .48 131.45 23, 3324 < .001

Instant scratch tickets .41 99.83 23, 3324 < .001

Raffle or fund-raising tickets .42 105.37 23, 3324 < .001

Betting on animal races .47 129.96 23, 3324 < .001

Sports betting .47 127.85 23, 3324 < .001

Gaming tables at casinos .45 116.06 23, 3324 < .001

Poker machines at casinos .42 106.54 23, 3324 < .001

Poker machines at other venues .49 141.43 23, 3324 < .001

Cards or board games .51 148.14 23, 3324 < .001

Games of skill .50 145.95 23, 3324 < .001

Arcade or video gaming .50 143.59 23, 3324 < .001

Internet gambling .45 116.07 23, 3324 < .001

Table4showsthestandardisedpredictorsfortheregressionsdescribedinTable3.Weseethat

self‐reportedgamblingfrequencyiswellpredictedbyboththeperceptionofthedegreetowhich

bothfamilyandpeersgamble(bothsignificantpredictorsforall12gamblingactivities),butthe

firstpredictorhasapproximatelydoublethepredictivepowerofthesecond.Othersignificant

predictorsinclude,self‐reportedapprovalofgambling(significantforall12gamblingactivities),

perceivedapprovalofgamblingbypeers(significantforsevengamblingactivities)andpeoplein

general(significantforeightgamblingactivities),receivingpromotionalmaterials(significant

forninegamblingactivities),frequencyofdiscussinggamblingoffline(significantforall12

gamblingactivities),age(significantforsevengamblingactivities),gender(significantforeight

gamblingactivities)andthepsychologicalfactorsofoverestimatingchancesofwinning

(significantforninegamblingactivities)andPGSIscore(significantforelevengambling

activities).



Table4:StandardisedregressioncoefficientsforgamblingparticipationratesStandardisedregressioncoefficientsforthepredictorsofself‐reportedparticipationin12gamblingactivities.

Predictors


Lottery tickets

Instant scratch tickets


tickets

Betting on animal races

Sports betting


Poker machines at

casinos

Poker machines at

other venues

Cards or board games

Games of skill

Arcade or video

gaming Internet

gambling

Participation in gambling Family members .23*** .30*** .30*** .18*** .13*** .22*** .28*** .26*** .38*** .29*** .31*** .23*** Peers .17*** .10*** .16*** .12*** .11*** .14*** .13*** .12*** .10*** .07*** .07*** .11*** People in general .02 .03 .01 .00 -.01 .00 .02 .04** -.01 -.01 .00 .04*

Approval of gambling Self-reported .37*** .20*** .22*** .30*** .32*** .16*** .23*** .34*** .11*** .05* .07*** .35*** Family members -.02 .02 .00 -.02 -.03 -.03 -.03 -.07*** -.02 .01 -.03 -.07*** Peers -.09*** -.03 -.05* -.04* -.08*** -.06** -.07*** -.06*** -.02 -.03 -.02 -.02 People in general -.10*** -.08*** -.05* -.08*** -.05** -.06*** -.05** -.03 -.01 -.01 -.03 -.06***

Exposure to advertisement Seeing ads .01 .00 .08*** .04** -.02 .01 .00 -.03* .01 .02 .06*** .03* RPM .03 .03 .06*** .07*** .11*** .07*** .06*** .05** .03 .06*** .03* .03*

Participating in discussions Online -.01 .04* .02 .03 .05** .08*** .03 -.04* .02 .03 .05** .01 Offline .16*** .19*** .12*** .23*** .18*** .14*** .13*** .17*** .23*** .25*** .24*** .13***

Demographic variables Age .21*** .02 .11*** .03* -.03* -.04** .01 .12*** -.02 -.01 -.03* .02 Gendera -.07*** -.01 .00 -.08*** -.14*** -.06*** .01 .00 -.03** -.05*** -.03* -.06*** COBa .01 .00 .02 .02 .02 .02 -.01 .03* -.02 .00 .00 .01 LSHa -.03* -.01 .00 .00 -.02 -.03 -.01 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 Relationship statusa .05*** .04** .07*** .02 .01 .03* .01 .01 .02 .02 .02 -.01 Locationa .00 -.01 -.04** .02 .03* .03* .05*** -.02 .02 .01 .02 .02

Psychological factors Depression -.06* .01 -.05** .02 -.04 .00 .02 .01 -.01 .01 .01 .01 Low esteem .01 -.05 .01 -.06* -.01 -.06* -.06* -.05 -.04 -.02 -.01 -.02 Positive urgency -.01 .00 .05* -.03 -.01 .03 -.02 .02 .04* .04* .04* .00 OCW .10*** .10*** .07*** .07*** .05** .07*** .08*** .05** .04* .03 .01 .01 Luck/ Perseverance -.05*** .00 .00 -.04** -.02 .01 -.01 -.05*** .01 .04** .01 -.02 PGSI .10*** .11*** .03 .13*** .17*** .18*** .19*** .24*** .10*** .15*** .08*** .19***

Note.N=3361.COB=Countryofbirth;LSH:Mainlanguagespokenathome;OCW=Overestimatingchancesofwinning,PGSI=Problemgamblingseverityindex,PRM=Receivingpromotionalmaterial.COBa:0=Other,1=Australia.Gendera:0=male,1=female.Locationa:0=Rural,1=Metropolitan.LSHa:0=Other,1=English.Relationshipstatusa:0=Other,1=Marriedorlivingwithapartner.*p<.05;**p<.01;***p<.001



Sincebeliefsaboutthedegreetowhichothersgambleandapprovalofgamblingaresignificant

predictorsofgamblingfrequency,itisworthwhileconsideringhowaccuratethesebeliefsare.Iftheyare

notaccurate,thencorrectingthemcouldpotentiallyreducegambling.Figure5showsactualgambling

frequency(i.e.averageself‐reportedgamblingfrequency)versustheperceivedgamblingfrequencyof

family,peersandpeopleingeneral,foreachofthe12gamblingactivities.Ascanbeseen,individuals

systematicallyoverestimatethedegreetowhichothersgamble.Theydothisleastforfamilymembers,

thenforpeersandmostforpeopleingeneral.Figure6showsthedegreetowhichindividualsperceive

familymembers,peersandpeopleingeneraltoapproveofgambling.Thereisasystematicbiasfor

individualstobelievethatpeopleingeneralapproveofgamblingmorethantheydo.



Figure5:Perceivedparticipationingambling

ClusteredbargraphsforthepercentageofVictoriansself‐reportingparticipatinginthe12surveyedgamblingactivitiesandtheperceivedparticipationoftheirfamilymembers,

peers,andpeopleingeneral.Clustersmarkedwithasterisksindicateastatisticallysignificantdifferenceonfrequencyratingsforgamblingactivitydependingontheperson(s)doing

thegambling(self,familymembers,peers,andpeopleingeneral)asindicatedbyanon‐parametricFriedmantest.N=3361.*p<.05;**p<.01;***p<.001.



38

Figure6:Approvalofgambling

ClusteredbargraphsshowingthepercentageofVictorianswhoapproveofeachofthe12gamblingactivitiesandwhatpercentageoftheirfamilymembers,peers,andpeoplein

general,respectively,theybelieveapproveofeachofthe12gamblingactivities.Clustersmarkedwithasterisksindicateastatisticallysignificantdifferenceinapprovalratingsasa

functionofapprovalcategory(self,familymembers,peers,andpeopleingeneral),asindicatedbyanon‐parametricFriedmantest.N=3361.*p<.05;**p<.01;***p<.001.



TurningourattentionnowtoPGSIscore,westartedbyperformingacorrelationanalysistodetermine

theassociationsbetweenourvariablesandPGSIscore.TheresultsareshowninTable5.Almostall

variableswerecorrelatedwithPGSIscore,whichwasexpectedaspreviousstudieshadindicatedthat

thesevariableswerecorrelatedeitherwithPGSIscoreor,atleast,withgamblingfrequency,whichitself

isknowntobecorrelatedwithPGSIscore.Theonlysurprisewasthatthevariables,Languagespokenat

homeandRelationshipstatuswerenotcorrelatedwithPGSIscore.

Asbefore,weperformedaregressionanalysis,todeterminewhichvariablesareneededtopredictPGSI

score.Whereas,inourpreviousregressionanalysis,weconsideredonlyoneformofgamblingatatime,

thiswouldnotbeanappropriatewayofpredictingPGSIscore,sincemultipleformsofgamblingcould

potentiallycontributetoanindividual’sPGSIscore.Consequently,weneededtotakeintoaccount

multipleformsofgamblingsimultaneously.Todothis,withoutbeingoverwhelmedbythesheernumber

ofpotentialpredictors,weperformedastepwiseregression.Westartedbyidentifyingthesingle

predictorofPGSIscorethatcouldexplainthegreatestamountofvarianceinPGSIscore.Then,wefound

thesecondpredictorwhich,whencombinedwiththefirstpredictor,explainedthegreatestamountof

varianceinPGSIscore.Inthenextstep,weaddedathirdpredictorandsoon,sothateachstepadded

anotherpredictor.Wecontinuedwiththisprocessuntiladdinganadditionalpredictordidnotexplain

anymorevariance.Doingthis,revealed33predictors,asshowninTable4,which,intotal,explained

59%ofthevarianceinPGSIscore.However,almostallthisvariancewasaccountedforbythetopfive

predictors,whichcombinedexplained51%ofthevarianceofthePGSIscore.Consequently,wecan

simplifythediscussionbyfocusingonthesepredictors,whichiswhatwedoinChapter5.



Table5:CorrelationanalysisforPGSIscore

Spearman rank order coefficients (rs) between PGSI score and all variables of interest

Variables

PGSI score

Lottery tickets Instant

scratch tickets


tickets Betting on

animal races Sports betting


Poker machines at

casinos

Poker machines at other venues

Cards or board games Games of skill

Arcade or video gaming

Internet gambling

rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs rs Participation in gambling

Self-reported .20** .29** .13** .38** .46** .45** .41** .45** .34** .37** .36** .45**

Family members .10** .16** .07** .20** .25** .26** .24** .24** .26** .29** .32** .30** Peers .07** .09** .04* .17** .21** .23** .21** .20** .18** .19** .18** .22** People in general -.11** -.09** -.08** -.05** -.03* -.02 -.04* -.05** -.02 -.02 -.02 -.03

Approval of gambling Self-reported .05** .05** -.05** .24** .26** .27** .27** .27** .15** .20** .20** .31** Family members -.02 -.01 -.09** .10** .14** .12** .10** .12** .08** .11** .11** .15** Peers -.03 -.01 -.05** .08** .12** .12** .10** .10** .07** .09** .09** .13**

People in general -.12** -.13** -.13** -.08** -.06** -.05** -.07** -.08** -.05** -.06** -.05** -.01

Exposure to advertisement Seeing ads .01 .09** .05** .06** .05** .16** .16** .15** .23** .22** .23** .10** RPM .25** .25** .15** .30** .31** .33** .33** .29** .29** .30** .30** .28**

Participating in discussions Online .36** .35** .30** .36** .37** .38** .37** .36** .34** .35** .34** .36** Offline .24** .25** .18** .30** .29** .34** .33** .32** .33** .33** .35** .30**

Demographic variables Psychological factors

Age Gendera COBa LSHa

Relationship statusa Locationa Depression Low esteem Positive urgency OCW

Luck/ Perseverance

PGSI score -.18** -.18** .05** -.01 -.03 .06** .33** .35** .46** .43** .25**

Note. N = 3361. COB = Country of birth; LSH: Main language spoken at home; OCW = Overestimating chances of winning, PGSI = Problem gambling severity index, PRM = Receiving promotional material. COBa: 0 = Other, 1 = Australia. Gendera: 0 = male, 1 = female. Locationa: 0 = Rural, 1 = Metropolitan. LSHa: 0 = Other, 1 = English. Relationship statusa: 0 = Other, 1 = Married or living with a partner. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001



Table6:StepwiseregressiontopredictPGSIscore

SummarystatisticsforastepwiselinearregressiondesignedtopredictPGSIscore

Gambling activity PGSI score

R2 F dfReg, dfRes p

1. Psychological factor: Positive urgency .343 1743.58 1, 3346 < .001

2. Self-reported participation: Playing poker machines

at pubs, hotels, or sporting clubs .421 1214.19 1, 3345 < .001

3. Participation in online discussion about: Betting on

gaming tables at casinos .464 965.43 1, 3344 < .001

4. Self-reported participation: Gambling on the Internet .492 809.82 1, 3343 < .001

5. Psychological factor: Overestimating chances of

winning .512 702.56 1, 3342 < .001

6. Psychological factor: Low esteem .519 601.97 1, 3341 < .001

7. Perceived participation of family members: Betting

on arcade or video games .525 528.26 1, 3340 < .001

8. Perceived participation of people in general: Buying

lottery tickets such as Tattslotto, Powerball, or Keno .529 467.87 1, 3339 < .001

9. Participation in online discussion about: Playing

poker machines at casinos .532 421.27 1, 3338 < .001

10. Perceived participation of family members: Playing

poker machines at pubs, hotels, or sporting clubs .535 383.81 1, 3337 < .001

11. Self-reported participation: Betting on sports like

football, tennis, rugby, or cricket .538 353.05 1, 3336 < .001

12. Perceived participation of peers: Betting on cards or

board games with family or friends .540 325.98 1, 3335 < .001

13. Perceived approval of family members: Playing


14. Self-reported approval: Gambling on the Internet .544 283.96 1, 3333 < .001

15. Psychological factor: Perceived luck / perseverance .546 266.67 1, 3332 < .001

16. Self-reported participation: Betting on games of skill

such a pool, bowling, or darts .547 251.33 1, 3331 < .001

17. Receiving promotional materials about: Playing


18. Demographics: Main language spoken at home .549 225.51 1, 3329 < .001

19. Perceived participation of family members: Betting

on games of skill such a pool, bowling, or darts .550 214.36 1, 3328 < .001

20. Self-reported approval: Buying lottery tickets such as

Tattslotto, Powerball, or Keno .551 204.26 1, 3327 < .001

21. Self-reported approval: Betting on gaming tables at

casinos .552 195.36 1, 3326 < .001

22. Self-reported participation: Buying lottery tickets

such as Tattslotto, Powerball, or Keno .553 187.27 1, 3325 < .001

GamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoria Howe

etal.2018


42

23. Self-reported participation: Betting on arcade or

video games .554 179.73 1, 3324 < .001

24. Participation in offline discussion about: Betting on

arcade or video games .555 172.91 1, 3323 < .001


cards or board games with family or friends .556 166.56 1, 3322 < .001

26. Self-reported approval: Buying instant scratch tickets

('scratchies') .557 160.64 1, 3321 < .001

27. Self-reported approval: Betting on games of skill

such as pool, bowling, or darts .558 155.27 1, 3320 < .001

28. Psychological factor: Depression .559 150.19 1, 3319 < .001

29. Self-reported participation: Buying raffle or

fundraising tickets .560 145.42 1, 3318 < .001


games of skill such a pool, bowling, or darts .560 140.86 1, 3317 < .001

31. Perceived approval of people in general: Betting on

cards or boards games with family or friends .561 136.58 1, 3316 < .001

32. Perceived approval of people in general: Playing

poker machines at pubs, hotels, or sporting clubs .561 132.60 1, 3315 < .001

33. Self-reported participation: Playing poker machines

at casinos .562 128.81 1, 3314 < .001


etal.2018


43

Chapter 5 – Discussion and conclusions

Introduction

Thepreviouschapterofthisreportsummarisedourmainresearchfindings.Indoingso,itaddressedthe

firsttwoofourthreeresearchquestions:

WhatwastheprevalenceofgamblingandproblemgamblinginVictoriain2016andhowdoesthis

compareto2010?

Whichfactorspredictanindividual’sgamblingfrequencyforeachof12gamblingactivitiesand

whichfactorpredictanindividual’sproblemgamblingseverityindex(PGSI)score?

Howcangambling‐relatedharmbereduced?

The prevalence of gambling and problem gambling in Victoria

Approximately,ninety‐fivepercentofoursampleindicatedthattheyhadparticipatedinatleastoneofthe

surveyed12gamblingactivitiesintheprevious12months.Thisisconsiderablyhigherthanthe70%

prevalenceratereportedbyHare(2015).Onemightthinkthatthisdiscrepancyoccurredbecausewe

surveyedactivitiesthatsomeindividualsmightnotconsidertobegambling(e.g.,buyinglottery,instant

scratch,andraffle/fund‐raisingtickets).However,thisreasondoesnotseemlikelyastheseactivities

werealsosurveyedbyHare(2015).Inourview,thedifferenceismorelikelyduetothewayour

participantsweresampledcomparedtohowparticipantsweresampledinHare(2015).Inparticular,

participantsinHare(2015)weresampledusingtelephoneinterviewswhereasourparticipants

respondedtoanonlinesurvey.Giventhestigmaassociatedwithgambling,itmightbethatthesurvey

participantsweremorelikelytoadmitinananonymousonlinesurveythattheygambledthanina

telephoneinterviewwheretheywouldhaveneededtomaketheadmissiontoahumanoperator.

Additionally,ourparticipantswereincentivisedtocompletethesurvey,whereastheparticipantsinHare

(2015)werenotandcouldshortentheinterviewbyclaimingnottogamble.Thismighthavetempted

peopletofalselyclaimthattheydonotgamble.Athirdreasonisthatthedemographicsoftheparticipants

inHare(2015)didnotmatchthoseofthepopulationingeneral.Inparticular,femaleswere

overrepresentedinHare(2015)becausefemalesaremorelikelytoanswerphonecallstoresidential

phonelines.Sincefemalesaregenerallylesslikelytogamblethanmales,Hare(2015)islikelytohave

underestimatedtheprevalenceofgambling.Finally,thereappearedtobenoattempttocontrolforagein

Hare(2015).Asthisfactorstronglyinfluencesratesofgambling,thiscouldalsoleadtoHare(2015)

underestimatingthetrueprevalencerate.Conversely,theORUensuredthatoursamplematchedthe

generalVictorianpopulationforthedemographicsofage,genderandlocation,soweweremorelikelyto

obtainanaccurateestimateofthetrueprevalencerate.Whateverthereasonforthediscrepancyinthe

findingsofourstudycomparedtothoseofHare(2015),ourdatashowthatapproximately95%ofthe


etal.2018


44

populationhadgambledatleastonceinthepreceding12months.Additionally,weshowedthatabouthalf

thepopulationhadgambledonasingleactivitymorethansixtimesinthepreceding12months.This

showsthatgamblingiscommoninVictoria–morecommonthanpreviouslythought.

Wealsoexaminedhowgamblingfrequencyvariedasafunctionofage.Weexpectedgamblingfrequency

topeakinthe20sand30sandthentogenerallydecreasewithageinlinewithpreviousreports(Weltet

al.,2011).Indeed,apreviousstudyofVictoriansfoundthatgamblingparticipationratesgenerally

decreasedorremainconstantwithageforallgamblingactivitiesexceptforLotto,PowerballorthePools

forwhichparticipationrateswerefoundtoincreasewithage(Hare,2015).Whilewefoundthatgambling

didincreasewithageforLotteryticketswealsofoundthatitincreasedwithage,albeittoalesserextent,

forRaffleorfund‐raisingticketsandPokermachinesatothervenues.Forallothergamblingactivities,it

firstincreasedthendecreasedwithage.Ourresultsarethusbroadlyconsistentwiththosereportedby

Hare(2015),thoughdifferforRaffleorfund‐raisingticketsandPokermachinesatothervenues.This

differencemaybeduetothefactthatHare(2015)didnothaveexactlyequivalentcategories.Theclosest

equivalentcategoriessheusedwereBuyingticketsinrafflessweepsandothercompetitionsandGaming

machines.

Wealsoinvestigatedhowgamblingvariedasafunctionofgender.Weexpectedthat,ingeneral,males

wouldgamblemorefrequentlythanfemales,butthatthisdifferencewouldbereduced,orpossibly

eliminated,forchance‐basedgamblingactivitiessuchaslotterytickets,raffleticketsandscratchtickets

(Hare,2015).Consistentwithourexpectations,wefoundthatmalesdidgenerallygamblemorethan

females,thoughthisdifferencewasnotsignificantforInstantscratchticketsorPokermachinesatother

venues,andfemalesgambledmorethanmalesforRaffleorfund‐raisingtickets.Takentogetherwithour

previousfindings,theseresultsunderlinetheneedtocontrolforbothageandgenderwhenestimating

thegamblingprevalencerateinthegeneralpopulation.

Weinvestigatedhowgamblingfrequencyvariedfrom2010to2016.Previously,ithadbeenreportedthat

gamblingparticipationrateshaddecreasedfrom2008to2014(VRGF,2016).Basedonthistrendwe

expectedgamblingratestocontinuetodecreaseor,atleast,nottoincrease.Contrarytothisexpectation,

wefoundthatgamblingratesincreasedforeightofthe12gamblingactivitiesweconsidered.Forthe

remainingfourcategories,therewasnoevidenceofadecrease.Wenotethattheseresultsmustbe

interpretedwithcautionsincethesetwostudiesuseddifferentsamplingmethodologies.Whereasthe

currentstudyusedananonymousinternetsurvey,the2010datawasobtainedusingatelephonesurvey,

whoseparticipants’demographicsmaynothavematchedthoseofthepopulationingeneralintermsof

ageandgender,bothofwhichknowtoinfluencegamblingfrequency.Itis,therefore,possiblethat

BolderoandBell(2012b)mayhaveunderestimatedtheprevalenceofgamblingin2010.


etal.2018


45

Finally,weconsideredhowtherateofproblemgamblingvariedasafunctionofage.Weexpectedhigh‐

riskproblemgamblingtovaryinthesamewayasgamblingfrequency,sopeakfortheagerangeof35‐44

yearsold(Hare,2015)oratleastforparticipantsintheir20’sand30’s(Welteetal.,2011)andthen

decreasewithage.MoreconsistentwithWelteetal.(2011)thanwithHare(2015),wefoundthathigh‐

riskproblemgamblingpeakedforthe25‐34yearoldagerange,andthendecreasedfromthatpoint.We

alsofoundsomeevidencethatproblemgamblingmayhaveincreasedsince2010but,asdiscussedabove,

thesamplingtechniquewasnotequivalentinthetwostudies,sothedataisnotdirectlycomparable.

Particularlycautionshouldbetakenwhenextrapolatingfromlaboratoryorstudent‐basedstudiestoreal

worldpopulationsasthegamblingcharacteristicsofthesetwogroupscanbequitedifferent(Gainsbury&

Blaszczynski,2011;Gainsbury,Russell&Blaszczynski,2014).

Whydoesproblemgamblingnotincreasewithageifgamblingfrequencygenerallyincreaseswithage?

Wethinktheanswertothisquestionisthataspeoplegetolder,theytendtoshifttogamblingactivities

thatarelesslikelytoresultingamblingproblems.Forexample,thegamblingactivitywhoseparticipation

ratesincreasesmostwithageisLotterytickets.Aswillbediscussedlater,thisactivityisnotstrongly

associatedwithproblemgambling,whichcouldexplainwhypartakingmoreinitdoesnottendtoleadto

gamblingproblems.

The factors that predict gambling frequency

Weinitiallyaddressedthisquestionbyperformingacorrelationanalysis,whoseresultsareshownin

Table2.Wefoundthatmostofthefactorsweconsideredwereassociatedwithmostformsofgambling.

Thiswasn’tsurprisingasthesefactorshadbeenselectedforinclusionspecificallybecauseprevious

studieshavefoundthemtobeassociatedwithgamblingfrequency.Assuch,ourresultswereconsistent

withtheliteraturereviewedinChapter2.

Wethenperformedaregressionanalysistodeterminewhichofthesefactorswereneededtopredict

participationratesforeachofthe12gamblingactivities,consideredindividually.Wefoundthatgambling

participationratescouldbewellpredictedbyalinearregression.Thecorrespondingstandardised

regressioncoefficientswerereportedinTable4.ComparingTable4toTable2,weseethatanumberof

factorsthatweresignificantlycorrelatedwithgamblingrateswerenotfoundbythisregressionanalysis

tobesignificantpredictorsofgamblingrates.Forexample,Participationingambling:PeopleinGeneral

wassignificantlycorrelatedwithgamblingparticipationratesforall12gamblingactivities,butwasa

significantpredictoronlyforinternetgambling.Thus,whenattemptingtopredictgamblingparticipation

rates,onedoesnotneedtotakeintoaccountthisfactor,atleastwhenusingalinearmodel.Similar

reasoningappliestothepsychologicalfactorsofDepression,Lowesteem,PositiveUrgencyand


etal.2018


46

Luck/Perseverance.Eachwassignificantlycorrelatedwithgamblingfrequencyforalloralmostallofthe

12gamblingactivitiesthatweinvestigated.However,theyturnedouttobesignificantpredictorsforonly

afewoftheseactivities.

ConsistentwithLarrimer&Neighbors(2003),wefoundthatindividualsoverestimatedhowmuchothers

gambledandoverestimatedhowmuchtheyapprovedofgambling.Basedonpreviousresearch,we

expectedthatthefrequencywithwhichothersareperceivedtogamblewouldpredictanindividual’s

gamblingfrequency(Boldero&Bell,2010b;Boldero,Bell&Moore,2010).Wealsoexpectedthiseffectto

bestrongestforothersthataremostsimilartotheindividualinquestion.Thus,weexpectedan

individual’sgamblingfrequencytobemoststronglypredictedbythegamblingfrequencyoffamily

members,followedbytheperceivedgamblingfrequencyofpeersandleastpredictedbytheperceived

gamblingfrequencyofothers.Ourfindingswereinlinewiththeseexpectationsexceptthattheperceived

frequencyofpeopleingeneral(i.e.non‐familymembersandnon‐peers)significantlypredictedan

individual’sgamblingfrequencyonlyinthecaseofInternetgambling.Thisfindingisnewasprevious

workontheinfluenceofdescriptivenormsongamblingdidnotdistinguishbetweendifferentsocial

groups(e.g.family,peersandpeopleingeneral).

Wealsoexpectedtheperceivedapprovaloffamilymemberstopredictanindividual’sgamblingfrequency

(Boldero&Bell,2010b;Boldero,Bell&Moore,2010).Tooursurprise,thiswasoftennotthecase.While

anindividual’sself‐reportedapprovalofgamblingstronglypredictedtheirowngamblingfrequencyforall

12gamblingactivities,theapprovaloffamilymemberspredictedself‐reportedgamblingfrequencyonly

inthecaseofPokermachinesatothervenuesandInternetgambling.Theapprovalofpeerswasmore

important,significantlypredictingself‐reportedgamblingfrequencyforsevengamblingactivities,andthe

approvalofpeopleingeneralwasmoreimportantstill,significantlypredictingself‐reportedgambling

frequencyforeightgamblingactivities.

Beforeconductingthissurvey,weexpectedexposuretoadvertisementstostronglyinfluenceself‐

reportedgamblingfrequency,especiallyinthecaseofsportsbetting,whereadvertisementsare

particularlyprevalent(Deansetal.,2017;Lindsayetal.,2013).Tooursurprise,thefrequencyofgambling

advertisementspredictedself‐reportedgamblingfrequencyonlyinthecaseoffivegamblingactivities:

Raffleorfund‐raisingtickets,Bettingonanimalraces,Pokermachinesatothervenues,Arcadeorvideo

gamesandInternetgambling.Wesuspectthatthisoccurredbecauseparticipantsgenerallysawavery

largenumberofadvertisements,sotheseadvertisementsmayhavelackednoveltyand,consequently,fail

toattractattention.Forexample,inthecaseofsportsbetting,themajority(53%)ofparticipantsreported

seeingmorethansixsportsadvertisementsinthepreviousyear.Receivingpromotionalmaterialwasa

betterpredictorofself‐reportedgamblingfrequency,beingasignificantpredictorforninegambling


etal.2018


47

activities.Presumably,thiswasbecauseitwasamuchrareroccurrence,somayhavehadagreater

noveltyvalue.Forexample,onlyaminority(10%)ofparticipantsreportedreceivingpromotional

materialrelatedtosportsbettingmorethan6timesinthepreviousyear.

Giventhatgamblingprovidersmakeextensiveuseofsocialmedia(Gainsburyetal.,2015),wehad

expectedthefrequenciesofbothonlineandofflinediscussionstopredictself‐reportedgambling

frequency.Whilethefrequencyofofflineconversationswasasignificantpredictorforself‐reported

gamblingfrequencyforall12gamblingactivities,thefrequencyofonlineconversationswasasignificant

predictorforonlyfivegamblingactivities:Instantscratchcards,Sportsbetting,Gamingtablesatcasinos,

PokermachinesatothervenuesandArcadeandvideogaming.

Wealsoexpectedbothageandgendertostronglypredictself‐reportedgamblingfrequency(Hare,2015).

Agewasasignificantpredictorforsevengamblingactivitiesandgenderwasasignificantpredictorfor

eightgamblingactivities.

Finally,welookedatsixpsychologicalfactors.Wefoundthatdepression,lowesteem,positiveurgency

andluck/perseverance,ingeneralwerenotreliablepredictorsofgamblingfrequency,beingsignificant

predictorsfortwo,three,fourandfourgamblingactivitiesrespectively.Overestimatingchancesof

winningwasamorereliablepredictor,beingsignificantforninegamblingactivities.Thestrongestand

mostreliablepredictorwasthePGSIscore,whichwasasignificantpredictorforelevengambling

activities.

The factors that predict PGSI score

Asbefore,westartedbyperformingacorrelationanalysis.Wefoundthatalmosteveryfactorwas

correlatedwithPGSIscore.ThemainsurpriseswerethatLanguagespokenathomeandRelationship

statuswerenotsignificantlycorrelatedwithPGSIscore.Abbottetal.(2016)reportedthattherewassome

evidencethatLanguagespokenathomecouldpredictgamblingproblems,butthisevidencedidnotquite

reachstatisticalsignificance.Ourresultswouldindicatethatthisisnot,infact,animportantpredictor.We

weresurprisedtofindthatRelationshipstatusdoesnotpredictPGSIscoregiventhefactthatproblem

gamblingisknowntodamagerelationships(Ferris&Wynne,2001).Wehavenogoodexplanationfor

this.

Asbefore,wethenperformedalinearregressiontodeterminewhichofthesefactorsaresignificant

predictors.Whereaspreviouslywehadconsideredeachgamblingactivityinturn,wenowneededto

considerthemallsimultaneously,sinceproblemgamblingcouldarisefromparticipationinmorethanone


etal.2018


48

activity.Toavoidbeingoverwhelmedbythelargenumberofpredictors,weperformedastepwiselinear

regression,whichsimultaneouslyconsideredallpossiblevariables.Ateachstep,weaddedthevariable

thatwouldmaximallyincreasetheamountofvarianceourlinearregressioncouldexplain.Thisprocess

wasterminatedwhenaddinganadditionalvariablewouldnotincreasetheexplainedvariancebya

statisticallysignificantamount.Whilewefoundthat33variablesweresignificantpredictorsand,intotal,

couldexplain56%ofthevarianceinPGSIscore,wealsofoundthatthemajority(91%)oftheexplainable

variancecouldbeexplainedbyjustthefirstfivepredictors:Positiveurgency,Playingpokermachinesat

pubs,hotels,orsportsclubs,Bettingongamingtablesatcasinos,Gamblingontheinternet,and

Overestimatingchancesofwinning.

Implications for policy and interventions

Ourworkhasanumberofpracticalimplications.Wewillconsidertheseinturn.

Problem gambling is more prevalent than previously reported

Perhapsthemoststrikingfindingfromourstudyisthatforthe25‐34yearagegroup,theprevalenceof

problemgamblingis23%.Thisisfarhigherthanhaspreviouslybeenreported.Forexample,astudy

conductedforTheVictorianResponsibleGamblingFoundationestimatedthatonly.8%ofindividualsin

Victoriaareproblemgamblers(VRGF,2016)andanolderstudyreportedthattheprevalenceofproblem

gamblinginVictoriawas0.97%(McMillen&Wenzel,2006).Partofthereasonforthisdiscrepancyisthat

wewereabletomeasureproblemgamblingasafunctionofage,socouldfocusontheagegroupthat

exhibitsthemostproblemgambling(25‐34yearolds).Hadwepresenteddataaveragedovertheentire

population,theprevalenceofproblemgamblingwouldhavedroppedto11%.Whilethatprevalenceis

stillhigherthanthatreportedbytheVRGF(2016)andMcMillen&Wenzel(2006),itismuchmorein

keepingwiththe8%prevalenceratethatwefoundpreviously,alsousingaVictoriansample(Boldero&

Bell,2012).Similarly,Scholes‐Balogetal.(2016)reportedaprevalencerateof4.7%foronesurvey(age

range17to24yearsold)andaproblemgamblingprevalencerateof5.7%forasecondsurvey(agerange

19to26yearsold),withbothsurveysalsofocusingsolelyonVictorians.Abbottetal.(2016)reporta

somewhatlowerprevalenceestimateof2.2%forproblemgamblinginVictoria.Thomasetal.(2010)

reportedamuchhigherprevalencerateofproblemgambling,reportingthat20.9%oftheirsamplewere

problemgamblers.WhiletheirsamplewasalsoVictorian‐based,theymadeaconcertedefforttosample

minorities,andthismayhaveincreasedthefractionofproblemgamblers.Whileourprevalencerateis

higherthanthatreportedbymostofthepreviousstudies,thoughlowerthanthatreportedbyThomaset

al.(2010),someoftheremainingdifferencemaybeduetooursurveymethod.Oursurveywasconducted

asanonlinequestionnaire,whereasalmostallthepreviousstudieswereconductedviatelephone


etal.2018


49

interviews.ThesoleexceptiontothiswasThomasetal.(2010)whereparticipantsalsocompletedan

anonymousquestionnaire.Giventhestigmaassociatedwithproblemgamblingandthepersonalnatureof

telephoneinterviews,individualsmayhavebeenmorereluctanttoacknowledgetheirgamblingproblems

inatelephoneinterviewasopposedtoinananonymousquestionnaire.Thiscouldexplainwhybothwe

andThomasetal.(2010)foundahigherrateofproblemgamblingthanpreviousstudies.Additionally,the

demographicsofoursurveywerechosentoberepresentativeofthegeneralVictorianpopulation,

whereasthoseintheprevioussurveyswerenot,thoughAbbottetal.(2016)attemptedtocompensatefor

thisbyreweightingtheirsample.Afinalfactormaybethetimingofoursurvey.Iftherateofproblem

gamblingisincreasing(VGRF,2016),thenonewouldexpectourstudytofindahigherrateofproblem

gamblingthanpreviousstudies.Regardlessoftheexactreasonforthedifferencebetweenourfindings

andpreviousfindings,itisclearthathigh‐riskproblemgamblingisfarmoreprevalentinVictoriathan

generallyacknowledged.

Problem gambling is mainly predicted by just five factors

Asdiscussedabove,91%oftheexplainablevarianceinthePGSIscorewasaccountedforbyjustfive

variables:Positiveurgency,Playingpokermachinesatpubs,hotels,orsportsclubs,Onlinediscussionsof

gamingtablesatcasinos,Gamblingontheinternet,andOverestimatingchancesofwinning.Thissuggests

thatinterventionsdesignedtoreduceproblemgamblingwoulddowelltoconcentrateonthesefactors.

Wepredictthatproblemgamblingwouldlikelybereducedifinterventionswereintroducedtoreduce

gamblingatpokermachinesatpubs,hotelsorsportsclubs,gamblingatgamingtablesatcasinosand

gamblingontheinternet.Furthermore,interventionsthatreducethedegreetowhichpeople

overestimatethechancesofwinningwouldalsohelp.Forexample,educatingpeopletoavoidcommon

gamblersfallaciesmightreduceproblemgambling.Finally,whentreatingproblemgamblers,counsellors

shouldconcentrateonreducingandbettercontrollingpositiveurgency.

Gambling frequency

Althoughinterventionstendtobedesignedtoaddressproblemgambling,mostgambling‐relatedharm

originatesfromlowandmoderateriskgambling(Browneetal.,2016).Forthisreason,itwouldbehighly

beneficialtoreduceoverallgamblingfrequency.Ourdatasuggestthatthedegreetowhichindividuals

gambleisinfluencedbytheirperceptionsofthedegreetowhichfamilymembersandpeersgambleand

thedegreetowhichpeersandpeopleingeneralapproveofgambling.Furthermore,ourdatashowsthat

individualssystematicallyoverestimatethedegreetowhichtheirpeersgambleandthedegreetowhich

peopleingeneralapproveofgambling.Correctingthesemisperceptionsshouldhelpreducegambling

frequency.Additionally,amajorpredictorofself‐reportedgamblingfrequencyisself‐reportedapproval

ofgambling.Thissuggeststhatinterventionsthatreducethedegreetowhichanindividualapprovesof

gamblingarelikelytobeeffectiveatreducinggamblingfrequency.


etal.2018


50

Limitations

Ourstudyisnotwithoutlimitations.OurparticipantswererecruitedfromthoseenrolledintheORU’s

surveypanel.AlthoughwerequestedthattheORUprovideuswitharepresentativesampleofVictorians

andthedemographiccharacteristicsofage,gender,andplaceofresidence(i.e.,metropolitanvs.non‐

metropolitan)matchedthoseofVictorianresidents,wehavenoinformationaboutthenumberof

participantscontactedwhodidnotagreetoparticipate.Inaddition,becausewewantedtoincreasethe

chancethatcontactedindividualswouldagreetoparticipate,weusedarelativelyshortsurveyanddid

notincludesomefactorsthatcouldhavebeenassociatedwithgamblingfrequenciesandgambling

problems.Further,ourfrequencydataincludedonlytwotimeperiods(i.e.,morethansixtimesandless

thansixtimesinthepastyear)inadditiontonever.Itispossiblethatusingmorecategoriesforthe

frequenciesofbehaviour,forseeingadvertisementsandforreceivingpromotionalmaterialscouldhave

allowedamorenuanceddescriptionoftheextenttowhichotherpeopleareperceivedtogambleandthe

impactofadvertisementsandpromotionalmaterialsongamblingbehaviourandgamblingproblems.

Finally,oursamplewasrestrictedtothoseindividualswhohaveaccesstotheinternet.Assuch,wedid

notsurveythosewhodidnothavethisaccess.Itispossiblethatthegamblingbehavioursofindividuals

withinternetaccessdifferfromthosewholackthisaccess.

Insomepartsofouranalysis,weperformedcorrelations.Whilecorrelationscanshowwhichfactorsare

statisticallyassociated,theycanneverprovethatonefactoriscausingthevariationinanotherfactor

(Aldrich,1995).Consequently,whileacorrelationanalysiscanbesuggestiveofthecausalrelationships,it

cannotprovetheserelationships.Weadditionallyperformedlinearregressions.Forthesamereasons

thatcorrelationscannotprovecausality,findingthatonevariablepredictsanotherinalinearregression

issuggestivebutisnotproofthatthefirstvariableisacauseofthefluctuationsinthesecondvariable.

Similarly,findingthatonevariabledoesnotpredictanothervariableissuggestive,butnotproof,ofalack

ofacausalrelationship.Theapparentlackofpredictivepowercouldbetheresultofatype2errororbe

causedbyanon‐monotonicrelationshipbetweenthetwovariables.Additionally,itshouldbe

acknowledgedthatthevaluesofthestandardisedbetasintheregressionwillvarydependingonwhich

variablesareincludedinthesetofpredictorsintheregression.So,whilewecanclaimthatthelinear

regressionshaveconstructedplausiblemodelstoexplainthefluctuationsinthedependentvariables,itis

possiblethatotherlinearmodelscouldalsobeconstructedthatcouldexplainasimilaramountof

variance.Ourregressionanalysisis,therefore,bestdescribedassuggestive,butnotproof,astowhatthe

underlyingcausalrelationshipsare,sotheseresultsmustbeinterpretedwithcaution.


etal.2018


51

Conclusions and recommendations for future research

About95%ofVictorianshavegambledatleastonceinthepreceding12months,withabout50%

gamblingmorethansixtimesinasinglegamblingactivity,duringthistimeperiod.Wefoundthat

gamblingfrequencygenerallyincreasedwithage,wasgenerallygreaterformalesthanforfemalesand

wasgenerallygreaterin2016thanin2010.Conversely,wefoundthatproblemgamblingwasmost

prevalentforpeopleaged25‐34yearsoldanddecreasedthereafter.Thereissomeevidencethatproblem

gamblingwasmorefrequentin2016thanin2010,butthisisnotconclusive.Perhapsourmostsurprising

findingwastherateofhigh‐riskproblemgambling.Averagedoverourentiresample,itwas11%.While

thisisonlyslightlygreaterthanwhatwefoundin2010,wherewefoundthatapproximately8%of

individualswerehigh‐riskproblemgamblers,thisismuchgreaterthanthatreportedbyHare(2015),

whoreportedonly0.8%ofindividualswerehigh‐riskproblemgamblers.Whilewediscussedvarious

potentialreasonsforthediscrepancybetweentherateofhigh‐riskproblemgamblingreportedbyusand

byHare(2015),thesereasonswerenecessarilyspeculativeinnature.Sinceitisimportanttoknowthe

trueprevalencerateofhigh‐riskproblemgamblinginVictoria,futureworkisneededtoaccountforthe

reporteddiscrepancies.

Turningourattentionnowtothefactorsthatpredictself‐reportedgamblingfrequency,wefoundthatfor

themostpartthesefactorswereasexpectedbasedonthereviewoftheliteraturereportedinChapter2.

Ingeneral,wefoundthatgamblingfrequencywaswellpredictedbytheperceivedgamblingfrequencyof

familymembersandpeers,theself‐reportedapprovalofgambling,theapprovalofpeersandpeoplein

general,thefrequencyofreceivingpromotionalmaterial,thefrequencyofdiscussinggamblingoffline,

age,gender,overestimatingchancesofwinningandPGSIscore.However,therewereanumberoffactors

thatweexpectedtoreliablypredictself‐reportedgamblingfrequencybuteitherdidnotdosoatallordid

soonlyforaminorityofgamblingactivities.Thesepredictorsincluded:theperceivedparticipationin

gamblingofpeopleingeneral,theapprovalofgamblingbyfamilymembers,thefrequencyofseeing

gamblingadvertisements,thefrequencyofdiscussinggamblingonline,countryofbirth,languagespoken

atahome,relationshipstatus,location,andthepsychologicalfactorsofdepression,lowesteem,positive

urgency,luck/perseverance.Thiswassurprisingsincepreviousstudieshadfoundthesefactorstobe

associatedwithself‐reportedgamblingfrequency.Weexpectthatthisdiscrepancyoccurredbecausemost

previousstudiesperformedwhatamountedtoacorrelationanalysis.Conversely,weutilizedalinear

regressionwhichallowedustodeterminetheproportionoftheexplainablevarianceeachfactorcould

uniquelyexplain,givenourotherpredictors.Thisnaturallyresultedinlowerestimatesforthestrengthsof

thevariousrelationships.Forexample,analysingourdatawefindthatdepressionissignificantly

correlatedwiththeself‐reportedfrequencyofsportsbetting(N=3661,Spearman’srho=.15,p<.01,

Table2).However,almostnoneofthisisuniquelyattributabletodepression,whichiswhywhenwe

performalinearregressionwefindthatthecomparablestandardisedbetais‐.04(Table4),whichisnot


etal.2018


52

statisticallysignificant.Itwasforthisreasonthatwechosetoreportbothstandardisedbetasand

regressioncoefficients,sincethelattercanbemisleadingwhenviewedontheirown.

Toinvestigatewhichfactorspredictproblemgambling,weperformedastepwiselinearregression.This

revealed33variablesasbeingsignificantpredictors.However,themajority(91%)oftheexplainable

variancecouldbeexplainedbyjustthefirstfivepredictorswhichwere:Positiveurgency,Playingpoker

machinesatpubs,hotels,orsportsclubs,Bettingongamingtablesatcasinos,Gamblingontheinternet,and

Overestimatingchancesofwinning.Basedonthis,wewereabletosuggestpotentialinterventionsto

reduceproblemgambling.

Inconclusion,ourstudyhasachievedthefollowingoutcomes:

AcomprehensivereviewoftheinternationalandAustralianliteratureonthepredictorsofgambling

frequencyandgamblingproblems.

AnanalysisoftheprevalenceofgamblinginVictoriaasafunctionofbothageandgender.

Acomparisonoftheprevalenceofgamblingin2016versusin2010.

Ananalysisoftheprevalenceofproblemgamblingasafunctionofbothageandseverity.

Ananalysisofthepredictorsofbothgamblingfrequencyandproblemgambling.

An analysis of how often others are perceived to gamble and the degree to which others are

perceivedtoapproveofgambling.

Adiscussionoftheimplicationsofthisresearchforpolicyandinterventions.


etal.2018


53

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Appendix A

Inrecruitingparticipants,theORUattemptedtomatchoursampletotheVictorianpopulationingeneral

forage,sexandlocation,accordingtothedemographicdataobtainedfromthe2011AustralianBureauof

Statistics(ABS)survey.Thedatafromthe2016ABSsurveywasnotusedasithadnotbeenreleasedwhen

westartedtorunourstudy.Itwasnotpossibletoperfectlymatchonanysingledimension,giventhetime

constraints,thefinitesizeofthesubjectpanelandthefactthattheORUwastryingtomatch

simultaneouslyonthreedifferentdimensions(gender,ageandlocation).

Gender

ABS2011 Oursurvey

Male 49.4% 48.1%

Female 50.6% 51.8%

Location

ABS2011 Oursurvey

Melbourne 75.4% 70.7%

Regional 24.6% 29.3%

Age

ABS2011 Oursurvey

18‐24 12.43% 11.54%

25‐29 8.46% 8.63%

30‐34 9.28% 9.02%

35‐39 9.71% 8.39%

40‐44 9.75% 8.42%

45‐49 9.59% 8.75%

50‐54 8.72% 8.12%

55‐59 8.18% 8.75%

60‐64 6.35% 10.38%

65+ 17.53% 18.00%


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Appendix B

Thequestionnaireusedinboththepilotstudyandinthelarge‐scalesurveyofVictorianadults.

GamblingSurvey

Therearelocationrequirementsthatmustbemetinordertoparticipateinourstudy.Pleasetypeyour

postcodeontheboxbelow,thenclick"next".

Ifyoudonotmeetthecriteriathesurveywillterminateandyouwillberedirectedtothescreenoutpage.

PostCode:[Freeresponse]

Section1‐Demographics

Inthissectionwewouldliketofindoutaboutyouandyourhousehold.Weareinterestedincollectingthis

informationsowecanmakecomparisonsbetweendifferentgroupsofindividuals,differenthouseholds,

anddifferentgeographicalareas.

Whatisthestreetname,suburb,andpostcodeofyourproperty?(PleaseDONOTincludeyourstreet

numberorlotnumber)

Street:[Freeresponse]

Suburb:[Freeresponse]

Postcode:[Freeresponse]

Whatgenderdoyouidentifywith?[Choiceof“Male”,“Female”,“Other(pleasespecify)]

Pleasespecifyyourageinyears:[Freeresponse]

Wherewereyouborn?[Choiceof“Australia”,“Other(pleasespecify)”]

Whatisthemainlanguageyouspeakathome?[Choiceof“English”,“Other(pleasespecify)”]

Whatisyourmaritalstatus?[Choiceof“Married”,“Livingwithapartner(e.g.adefacto,or

boyfriend/girlfriend)”,“Single,thatis,nevermarried”,“Separated(stilllegallymarried)”,“Divorced”,

“Widowed”]


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Section2‐GamblingBehaviour(PGSI)

WewouldnowliketoaskyousomequestionsaboutYOURgamblingbehaviour.Thinkingaboutthe

last12months,pleaseanswerthefollowingquestions.

[Forthefollowingquestionsthechoiceswere“Never”,“Sometimes”,“Mostofthetime”,“Almostalways”,

“Don’tknow”]

Haveyoubetmorethanyoucouldreallyaffordtolose?

Haveyouneededtogamblewithlargeramountsofmoneytogetthesamefeelingofexcitement?

Whenyougambled,didyougobackanotherdaytotrytowinbackthemoneyyoulost?

Haveyouborrowedmoneyorsoldanythingtogetmoneytogamble?

Haveyoufeltthatyoumighthaveaproblemwithgambling?

Hasgamblingcausedyouanyhealthproblems,includingstressoranxiety?

Thisisacatchquestiontocheckthatyouarereadingthesurvey.Pleaseclick“Mostofthetime”toshow

thatyouhavereadthisquestion.

Havepeoplecriticizedyourbettingortoldyouthatyouhadagamblingproblem,regardlessofwhetheror

notyouthoughtitwastrue?

Hasyourgamblingcausedanyfinancialproblemsforyouoryourhousehold?

Haveyoufeltguiltyaboutthewayyougambleorwhathappenswhenyougamble?

Haveyouliedtofamilymembersorotherstohideyourgambling?

Haveyoubetorspentmoremoneythatyouwantedtoongambling?

Haveyouwantedtostopbettingmoneyorgambling,butdidnotthinkyoucould?


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Section3‐ApprovalofGambling

PleaseindicatetheextentYOUapproveofthefollowinggamblingactivities.

[Forthefollowingquestionsthechoiceswere“Stronglydisapprove”,“Moderatelydisapprove”,“Neither

approvenordisapprove”,“Moderatelyapprove”,“Stronglyapprove”]

BuyinglotteryticketssuchasTattslotto,Powerball,orKeno?

Buyinginstantscratchtickets(a'scratchie')?

Buyingraffleorfundraisingtickets?

Bettingonhorseraces,trotsordograces?

Bettingonsportslikefootball,tennis,rugbyorcricket?

Bettingongamingtablesatcasinos?

Playingpokermachinesatcasinos?

Playingpokermachinesatpubs,hotelsorsportingclubs?

Bettingoncardsorboardsgameswithfamilyorfriends?

Bettingongamesofskillsuchaspool,bowlingordarts?

Bettingonarcadeorvideogames?

GamblingontheInternet?


PleaseindicatetheextentyouthinkthatYOURFAMILYapprovesofthefollowinggamblingactivities.

Samelistofquestionsandsamescaleasabove.


PleaseindicatetheextentyouthinkthatYOURPEERSapproveofthefollowinggamblingactivities.


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PleaseindicatetheextentyouthinkthatPEOPLEINGENERALapproveofthefollowinggambling

activities.


Section4‐ParticipationinGambling

PleaseindicatetheextenttowhichYOUhavedonethefollowingwithinthelast12months.

[Forthefollowingquestionsthechoiceswere“Morethan6times”,“Lessthan6times”,“Never”]

BoughtalotteryticketsuchasTattslotto,Powerball,orKeno?

Boughtaninstantscratchticket(a'scratchie')?

Boughtraffleorfundraisingtickets?

Betonhorseraces,trotsordograces?

Betonsportslikefootball,tennis,rugbyorcricket?

Betongamingtablesatacasino?

Playedpokermachinesatacasino?

Playedpokermachinesatapub,hotelorsportingclub?

Betoncardsorboardgameswithfamilyorfriends?

Betongamesofskillsuchapool,bowlingordarts?

Betonarcadeorvideogames?

GambledontheInternet?


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PleaseindicatetheextentyouthinkYOURFAMILYhasdonethefollowingwithinthelast12months.



PleaseindicatetheextentyouthinkYOURPEERShavedonethefollowingwithinthelast12months.



PleaseindicatetheextentyouthinkPEOPLEINGENERALhavedonethefollowingwithinthelast12

months.


Section5‐ViewsAboutGambling

Whethertheygambleornot,peoplehaveviewsaboutgambling.PleaseratetheextenttowhichYOU

agreewiththefollowingstatements.



SometimesIjustknowI'mgoingtohavegoodluck.

IfIhadlostmybetsrecently,myluckwouldbeboundtochange.

SometimesIthinkIhavethepowerto"will"mynumberstocomeupingamblinggames.

IfIconcentratehardenoughIwouldbeabletoinfluencewhetherIwinifIplaypokermachines.

Thisisacatchquestiontocheckthatyouarediligentlyreadingthesurvey.Pleasetick“Neitheragreenor

disagree”toshowyouhavereadthisquestion.

Section5‐ViewsAboutGambling

Regardlessofwhetheryoupersonallygamble,pleaseratetheextenttowhichYOUagreeordisagree

withthefollowingstatementsasifyouwereagambler.


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WhereIgetmoneytogambledoesn'tmatterbecauseIwillwinandpayitback.

IfIcontinuetogamble,itwilleventuallypayoffandIwillmakemoney.

Ishouldkeepthesamebetevenwhenithasnotcomeuplatelybecauseitisboundtowin.

TherearecertainthingsthatIcandowhenIambetting‐forexample,tappingacertainnumberoftimes,

holdingaluckycoininmyhand,crossingmyfingers,etc.‐whichincreasethechancesthatIwin.

Section6‐PerceptionsofOne'sSelf

Peopleseetheirlivesindifferentways.PleaseratetheextenttowhichYOUagreethateachofthe

followingstatementsdescribeyou.

[Forthefollowingquestionsthechoiceswere“Rarelyornoneofthetime”,“Alittle”,“Sometimes”,“Often”,

“Alwaysormostofthetime”]

Ifeellonely.

WhenIaminagreatmoodItendtogetintosituationsthatcouldcausemeproblems.

Iammiserabletobearound.

WhenIamveryhappy,Ican'tseemtostopmyselffromdoingthingsthatcanhavebadconsequences.

Ifeeldepressed.

Whenoverjoyed,IfeelaslikeIcan'tstopmyselffromgoingoverboard.

Iamoftenincompetent.

ItendtolosecontrolwhenIaminagreatmood.

Ifeelcompletelyworthless.

Irarelyliveuptomyownvaluesorstandards.


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Ifeelsad.

IfeelthatIcouldnotshakeoffthebluesevenwiththehelpoffamilyandfriends.

Section7‐AdvertisementsandSocialMediaPleaseindicatehowofteninthelastyearYOUhave

seenadvertisementsforthefollowingtypesofgambling.

[Forthefollowingquestionsthechoiceswere“Morethan6times”,“Lessthan6times”,“Never”]

LotteryticketssuchasTattslotto,Powerball,orKeno?

Instantscratchtickets('scratchies')?

Raffleorfund‐raisingtickets?

Bettingonhorseraces,trotsordograces?

Bettingonsportslikefootball,tennis,rugbyorcricket?

Bettingongamingtablesatcasinos?

Pokermachinesatcasinos?

Pokermachinesatpubs,hotelsorsportingclubs?

Bettingoncardsorboardgameswithfamilyorfriends?

Bettingongamesofskillsuchapool,bowlingordarts?

Bettingonarcadeorvideogames?

GamblingontheInternet?

Section7‐AdvertisementsandSocialMedia


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PleaseindicatehowofteninthelastyearYOUhavereceivedpromotions(e.g.aflyerinthemail)for

thefollowingtypesofgambling.

Samelistofquestionsandsamescaleasabove


PleaseindicatehowofteninthelastyearYOUhavediscussedonline(e.g.viaemail,Facebook,Twitter,

Instagrametc.)thefollowingtypesofgambling.



PleaseindicatehowofteninthelastyearYOUhavediscussedoffline(e.g.,inperson,onthetelephone

etc.)thefollowingtypesofgambling.


Inrespondingtothissurvey,didyouexperienceanydifficultiesorfindanyofthequestionsconfusing?If

so,pleaseexplainbelow.[Freeresponse]

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