Abstract
BackgroundSelf-exclusion from gambling is a common method for prevention and harm reduction in hazardous gambling. However, few national self-exclusion programs, involving a large number of gambling operators and activities in a country, have been assessed scientifically. This study aimed to examine characteristics of individuals who chose to enroll in a recently introduced (January, 2019) national self-exclusion system in Sweden.MethodsAdults and adolescents (from age 16 and above) were addressed with an online survey sent to members of the web panel of a market survey company (1940 respondents). Psychological distress, previous history of addictive disorders, sociodemographic data, and recent history of gambling patterns and over-indebtedness were recorded. Logistic regression tested associations with self-exclusion, with unadjusted analyses conducted for the sub-group of moderate-risk or problem gamblers.ResultsFour percent reported having self-excluded using the new national self-exclusion system. In logistic regression, self-exclusion was significantly associated with younger age (OR 0.65 [0.54–0.79] for increasing age groups) and with the highest level of problem gambling (OR 2.84 [1.10–7.37]). In moderate-risk or problem gamblers, in unadjusted analyses, younger age (p < 0.05) and psychological distress (p = 0.02) were associated with self-exclusion. In none- or low-risk gamblers, 3% had self-excluded, which was significantly associated with younger age (p < 0.001) and self-reported over-indebtedness (p < 0.001).ConclusionsIn a national, multi-venue online and land-based self-exclusion system, aiming to reduce the harm of problem gambling, self-exclusion is expectedly more common in problem gamblers, but also occurs among people without recent gambling problems. Further efforts may be needed in order to increase gambling self-exclusion in problem gamblers, and research in reasons for self-excluding, even in non-problem gamblers, is needed.
Highlights
Self-exclusion from gambling is a common method for prevention and harm reduction in hazardous gambling
Among preventive and harm reduction strategies suggested for problem gambling, voluntary self-exclusion from gambling is an intervention suggested in previous research, with scientific reports emerging from the early twenty-first century [2,3,4,5]
The present study aimed to study the characteristics of individuals enrolling in a new national multi-venue self-exclusion service within its first months of use, and factors associated with selfexclusion in a controlled model, adjusting for a number of variables believed to be associated with a problematic gambling pattern
Summary
Self-exclusion from gambling is a common method for prevention and harm reduction in hazardous gambling. Among preventive and harm reduction strategies suggested for problem gambling, voluntary self-exclusion from gambling is an intervention suggested in previous research, with scientific reports emerging from the early twenty-first century [2,3,4,5]. In these programs, a person, assumingly with a problematic gambling behavior or a perceived risk of developing such a behavior, is able to voluntarily self-exclude from gambling, in order to prevent her/his own potential relapse into gambling in the future, during the time period defined at the moment of Håkansson and Henzel Harm Reduct J (2020) 17:82 exclusion. The same review paper demonstrated that the extent of improvement was very variable, included studies generally demonstrated lower rates of pathological gambling at follow-up than upon self-exclusion [11]
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