Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers and pathological gamblers, to investigate the association between gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being among the three subgroups of gamblers, and to analyse simultaneously socio-demographic characteristics, gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being and the severity of disordered gambling (problem gamblers and pathological gamblers).MethodsThe data were collected through a nationwide telephone survey in 2011. Participants were selected through a random population sample of 15-74-year-old Finns. From that sample, persons with any past-year gambling involvement (N = 3451) were selected for a subsample for the descriptive and inferential analysis in the present paper. Gambling was assessed using the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Statistical significance was determined by chi-squared tests. The odds ratio and effect size were computed by using multivariate-adjusted multinomial logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe most significant socio-demographic characteristics (male gender, young age, education ≤12 years), gambling related factors (slot machine gambling, internet gambling) and perceived health and well-being (feeling lonely, smoking daily, risky alcohol consumption, mental health problems) explained 22.9 per cent of the variation in the severity of disordered gambling.ConclusionMale gender and loneliness were found to be associated with problem gambling in particular, along with smoking and risky alcohol consumption. Mental health problems and risky alcohol consumption were associated with pathological gambling. These identified associations between disordered gambling, mental health problems and risky alcohol consumption should be taken into consideration when implementing screenings of disordered gambling.
Highlights
Throughout the history people have been gambling
The most severe pattern of disordered gambling (DG) is pathological gambling (PG) which is categorized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as a disorder of impulse control [5]
Socio-demographic characteristics According to our bivariate analysis, socio-demographic characteristics e.g., male gender, low level of education, single marital status and young age were all associated with DG
Summary
Throughout the history people have been gambling. with the recent expansion of opportunities to gamble, gambling has become more problematic [1]. PG meets at least five of the ten criteria listed in DSM-IV. In addition to PG, DSM-IV can be used to identify a milder form of disordered gambling, problem gambling. Problem gambling meets 3–4 of the ten criteria listed in DSM-IV. Epidemiological studies estimate that the prevalence of PG is between 1.1% and 5.3% among the adult population [6,7,8,9]. Recent analysis by Williams and colleagues [10] stated that the standardized past-year prevalence of PG varied from 0.5% to 7.6% internationally. In Finland the past-year prevalence of PG is estimated to be 1%, and problem gambling 1.7% [11]. The purpose of this study was to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers and pathological gamblers, to investigate the association between gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being among the three subgroups of gamblers, and to analyse simultaneously socio-demographic characteristics, gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being and the severity of disordered gambling (problem gamblers and pathological gamblers)
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