Abstract
This study investigated the effect of problem gambler gender on the relationship between the gambler having dependent children (younger than 18 years) living at home and the gambler perpetrating or being a victim of family violence. The sample comprised 164 help-seeking gamblers (43% female; 37% with dependent child/ren) recruited from three national gambling treatment services in New Zealand. Family violence was measured using a modified version of the HITS scale covering physical, psychological, verbal, emotional and sexual violence. Forty-nine percent of participants reported being a victim of violence and 43% had perpetrated violence. Multivariable logistic regression modelling was conducted, adjusting in sequence for significant socio-demographic, psychosocial and gambling factors. The relationship between having dependent children and being a victim of family violence was gender-related. Female gamblers living with dependent children reported more family violence perpetration and victimisation than male gamblers living with dependent children. Female gamblers with dependent children living at home had greater odds of being a victim of family violence than male gamblers without dependent children living at home. This relationship remained when adjusted for contextual factors of being a victim (ethnicity, income support status, and feelings of inadequacy) in this sample. A similar gender effect of having dependent children living at home on violence perpetration disappeared when known psychosocial contextual factors of violence perpetration (aggression, difficulties in emotion regulation, drug issue in the family, and interpersonal support) were taken into account. These findings suggest the value of coordinated approaches between gambling treatment services and programmes supporting vulnerable families in order to identify vulnerable families and put support mechanisms in place.
Highlights
Families with problem gamblers are families under pressure
Violence Two-thirds (68%) of the female participants and almost half (45%) of the male participants with dependent children reported perpetrating some type of family violence in the prior 12 months
The current results suggest that interventions targeted to female gamblers with dependent children that focus on addressing broader family issues such as drug use and the availability of tangible support, in addition to emotion regulation strategies could potentially reduce the risk of violence perpetration by female gamblers with dependent children
Summary
Families with problem gamblers are families under pressure. International studies highlight the multifaceted and complex nature of the impacts of problem gambling on family dynamics. A recent systematic literature review of 30 empirical studies examining the family impacts of gambling conducted between 1998 and 2013 identified: strain and conflict in family relationships; loss of trust; financial devastation; high levels of distress, anxiety and depression; physical health problems; and isolation from friends and wider family (Kourgiantakis et al 2013). Violence and problem gambling issues share a conceptualisation from broad public health and socio-political perspectives. They are both regarded as complex issues, affected by social and economic factors with inequalities in power and resources (e.g. between men and women, between socio-economic and cultural groups) playing a significant role. Gender asymmetry in relation to norms and roles in society has been linked to gambling practices and the way that responses to gambling (e.g. treatment and research) are enacted (Delfabbro 2000; Griffiths and Delfabbro 2001)
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