Social, political and economic determinants of gambling behaviour: A cross-national analysis

Session Title

Session 2-3-A: Measuring Problem Gambling

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

24-5-2023 1:30 PM

End Date

24-5-2023 3:00 PM

Disciplines

Multicultural Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts | Quantitative Psychology

Abstract

Gambling prevalence surveys have been used internationally to measure how populations engage with gambling, and the extent to which people experience disordered gambling symptoms. However, the findings from these are typically used in isolation, and not in tandem. We report the findings of the first systematic attempt to extend the use of these surveys by integrating data from nearly 70 gambling prevalence surveys conducted worldwide, sampling over half a million people from 12 countries. In addition to established individual risk factors, we use this data to look at cross-national predictors of gambling engagement and disordered gambling. Using multilevel modelling, we report how gambling behaviour differs from country to country, and how different societal (e.g. cultural dimensions) and economic (e.g. GDP per capita, whether in recession) factors influence gambling behaviour and disordered gambling prevalence. The findings from this modelling can be used to examine which factors may differentially affect gambling and disordered gambling prevalence. The code for merging the datasets will be made available on the Open Science Framework for other researchers to use themselves.

Keywords

Gambling, gambling disorder, international, epidemiology

Author Bios

Jaimie Tillsley is a Research Assistant at the University of Nottingham. Jaimie is employed as a Research Assistant on a project combining data from many gambling prevalence survey datasets.

Richard James is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. His research has looked at mobile gambling, gambling content on social media, and modelling subtypes of disordered gambling behaviour.

Richard Tunney is Professor of Psychology and Head of School at Aston University. His research has looked at gambling and gaming disorder, impulsivity and surrogate decision-making.

Funding Sources

This work was supported by a small exploratory research grant from the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG). The funder had no involvement in the research process.

Competing Interests

Jaimie Tillsley has no conflicts of interest to declare. Richard James has received grant funding from the AFSG and GREO (Gambling Research Exchange Ontario) as Principal Investigator, and the International Center for Gaming Research (ICRG) as co-investigator in the last 3 years. Richard Tunney has received grant funding from the AFSG, GREO, and the ICRG as co-investigator in the last 3 years.

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May 24th, 1:30 PM May 24th, 3:00 PM

Social, political and economic determinants of gambling behaviour: A cross-national analysis

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Gambling prevalence surveys have been used internationally to measure how populations engage with gambling, and the extent to which people experience disordered gambling symptoms. However, the findings from these are typically used in isolation, and not in tandem. We report the findings of the first systematic attempt to extend the use of these surveys by integrating data from nearly 70 gambling prevalence surveys conducted worldwide, sampling over half a million people from 12 countries. In addition to established individual risk factors, we use this data to look at cross-national predictors of gambling engagement and disordered gambling. Using multilevel modelling, we report how gambling behaviour differs from country to country, and how different societal (e.g. cultural dimensions) and economic (e.g. GDP per capita, whether in recession) factors influence gambling behaviour and disordered gambling prevalence. The findings from this modelling can be used to examine which factors may differentially affect gambling and disordered gambling prevalence. The code for merging the datasets will be made available on the Open Science Framework for other researchers to use themselves.