Motivational factors for gambling and gambler profiles based on a population-based Finnish Gambling Harms survey

Session Title

Session 2-4-A: Harms and Social Issues

Presenters

Anne H. Salonen, National Institute for Health and WelfareFollow
Heli Hagfors, University of Tampere, Faculty of Social SciencesFollow

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

29-5-2019 3:30 PM

End Date

29-5-2019 4:55 PM

Disciplines

Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Psychological Phenomena and Processes | Public Health Education and Promotion

Abstract

Background:Motivational factors for gambling are linked with problem gambling, yet, it has been studied rather rarely using general population samples.

Aims:The purpose of this study is to define the profile for gamblers based on their motivational factors.

Methods:Randomly sampled first wave of the Finnish Gambling Harms surveydata was collected in 2017 (n=7186) and the second wave in 2018 (n=2624). The population-based data were collected using the web- and postal surveys in three geographical regions. Both logistical regression analysis and McNemar’s test were used.

Results:During the first wave, the most common motives for gambling included to win money (76%), positive feeling (67%) and to support good cause (24%). One year after, motivational factors remained mainly unchanged, except for supporting good cause. Young age and high income was linked with gambling for positive feeling, whereas women gambled more often than men to win money. Furthermore, 18–24-year-olds gambled to socialize more often than other subgroups. Moreover, 65-year-olds or older gambled to support good cause most often. Though, 25–34-year-olds and the homemakers/cares gambled more often to escape than other subgroups, while 55–64 year-olds gambled less to escape than other age groups. More detailed results including gambling participation will be presented at the conference.

Implications for preventive work, harm reduction and for policy makers as well as for further research will be discussed at the conference, particularly from the perspective of socioeconomically vulnerable subgroups.

Keywords

gambling participation, gambling severity, longitudinal, motivation, survey

Author Bios

Anne H Salonen is a RN, Doctor of Health Sciences and Adjunct Professor in the field of public health. Currently she works as a Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland. Her research interests include studies monitoring and enhancing health and wellbeing. Her strongest expertise involves quantitative studies, particularly different types of surveys. Currently, she is a principal investigator of both the population-based Finnish Gambling Study and the Gambling Harms Survey.

Heli Hagfors is a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and she is also a Master’s student at the University of Tampere, Faculty of Social Sciences (Social Psychology). Between September and November 2018, she worked as a researcher in trainee at the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland.

Funding Sources

This research was funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Helsinki, Finland (section 52 of the Appropriation of the Lotteries Act). However, the funders had no role in the study design, analysis or interpretation of the results nor in any phase of the publication process.

Competing Interests

The authors do not hold any position, receive ongoing or significant funding, and are not engaged in any business or with any organization that creates a real or perceived conflict of interest in their work on this manuscript.