Digital Scholarship@UNLV

Submission Title

A Safe Bet: The conceptual blueprint for a novel player-tailored online responsible gambling promotion framework.

Session Title

Session 1-4-B: Evaluating Responsible Gambling Frameworks

Presenters

Harriet Rose Galvin, Erasmus University of RotterdamFollow
Leory Snippe, University of AmsterdamFollow
Reinout W. Wiers, University of AmsterdamFollow
Marilisa Boffo, Erasmus University of RotterdamFollow

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

23-5-2023 3:45 PM

End Date

23-5-2023 5:15 PM

Disciplines

Applied Behavior Analysis | Clinical Psychology

Abstract

Abstract (200 words max)

With the worldwide surge of online gambling opportunities, national policymakers and regulators scaled up requirements for gambling operators to promote responsible gambling (RG) behaviors and protect customers' safety. Unfortunately, the development and evaluation of most RG policies in the gambling industry do not follow systematic approaches and are based on heuristics rather than on scientific principles and rigorous methodology.

Our ‘A Safe Bet' project is a research collaboration between academia and the gambling industry, where expertise and resources are channeled into creating innovative RG solutions more effectively protecting gamblers across all risk levels. The project will develop and evaluate an online comprehensive RG framework, combining a gambling risk assessment algorithm tracking gambling behavior with a newly designed library of RG interventions to scaffold a player-tailored RG promotion model. We intend to leverage web-based design mechanics, data science, and behavioral science principles to deliver high-quality, evidence- and theory-based RG tools to players based on their individual level of risk and pattern of gambling behavior. We will present the conceptual blueprint of such a framework, from a first proof-of-concept (POC) version of the system leading to the full-scale version the complete framework, both implemented and evaluated in a naturalistic setting.

Statement of Implications (50 words max)

Our goal is to elucidate if and how well our proposed RG framework can improve player safety by supporting more sustainable RG practices among the majority of players while reducing escalation into riskier gambling patterns via more timely and tailored RG promotion.

Keywords

Responsible gambling, digital behaviour change, positive play.

Author Bios

Harriet R. Galvin is a PhD candidate at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies Clinical Psychology. She previously graduated from the Research Master in Psychology from the University of Amsterdam. The 'A Safe Bet' project is her PhD's primary focus and aligns with her research interest in the field of behaviour change, where she hopes to find innovative ways to encourage, enable and support people to make better choices for themselves.

Leroy Snippe is a PhD candidate at the Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) lab of the University of Amsterdam, conducting international research on innovative treatment approaches in gambling disorder. He has been a practising clinician and therapist in the field of gambling addiction for over 5 years, also collaborating in the development of E-health addiction interventions.

Prof. dr. Reinout W. Wiers is professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Amsterdam. Internationally known for his work on assessing and changing implicit cognitive processes in addiction, he has published over 400 international papers and received the prestigious VIDI (2002) and VICI (2008) research grants from the Dutch NOW for addiction research. He has been senior editor of the no 1 ranked journal in the field of substance abuse (Addiction) since 2009, and on the editorial board of several other Addiction journals.

Dr Marilisa Boffo is assistant professor in clinical psychology and eHealth at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Trained as a clinical psychologist and research methodologist, she combines the two worlds into the design and empirical investigation of digital interventions for behavior change. The core focus of her research across her career has been the translation of behavioral science insights into creative digital solutions to bring tangible influence in the lives of the people engaging with them.

Funding Sources

The ’A Safe Bet’ project is supported and co-financed by two international gambling operators from the U.K and the Netherlands. All research in conjunction with the current abstract and its content falls under the authors' responsibility.