Responsible Gambling Research Articles

EKONOMSKI I DRUŠTVENI TROŠKOVI OVISNOSTI O KOCKANJU U HRVATSKOJ – DRUGA STRANA MEDALJE

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COSTS OF GAMBLING ADDICTION IN CROATIA – THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MEDAL ABSTRACT Gambling, as a behavior primarily aimed at entertainment and leisure, is risky due to the potential development of harmful psychosocial consequences, i.e. the development of gambling addiction symptoms. These include the full range of health (physical and mental), social (family, friends, community), and economic (employment, finances, and crime) adverse consequences. The aim of this research is to calculate the economic and social costs of gambling addiction in the Republic of Croatia in order to provide science-based indicators to encourage positive regulatory changes that would ensure a balanced market between profitable and risky elements of the gambling industry. The research starts from the scientific research on the prevalence of gambling addiction in the adult Croatian population and the official data on revenues in the state budget from all gambling activities. Two of the most commonly used methodologies were used to calculate the social and economic costs: National Opinion Research Centre − NORC and Australian Productivity Commission − APC. The research uses original and strict criteria for the prevalence of gambling addiction. Regardless of the methodology used, the results show that the social costs of gambling addiction in Croatia account for between 34% and 77% of the total annual gambling revenue. Ljetopis socijalnog rada 2021., 28 (1), 37-70. 70 članci The results were interpreted in the context of general guidelines for improving the policy of responsible gambling, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of developing harmful psychosocial consequences in society. Key words: gambling; gambling addiction; economic costs; social costs; consequences

Impact of Warning Pop-Up Messages on the Gambling Behavior, Craving, and Cognitions of Online Gamblers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Many features of Internet gambling may impact problem severity, particularly for vulnerable populations (availability, anonymity, a convenience and ease of play, digital forms of payment, and a higher level of immersion). To prevent the risks associated with excessive gambling and to inform gamblers, we need responsible gambling strategies. Gambling-related warning messages are one possible strategy that can help minimizing gambling-related harm.Methods: Our experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of self-appraisal and informative pop-up messages compared to a control condition (blank pop-up messages), for both at-risk (ARG) and low risk/non-problem Internet gamblers (LR/NPG) according to their favorite type of game, in a semi naturalistic setting and with a 15-day follow-up. During the experimental session, participants were invited to gamble on their favorite website with their own money in the laboratory. Effectiveness was investigated through the impact of pop-ups on gambling behavior (money wagered and time spent), craving, cognitive distortions, and gambling experience, taking into account message recall. We analyzed data from 58 participants, playing preferentially either to skill and chance bank games (sports betting, horse race betting) and skill and chance social games (poker).Results: We observed a significant decrease in the illusion of control for ARG in the informative pop-up condition at the 15-day follow-up. A significant effect of self-appraisal pop-ups compared to blank pop-up messages was also demonstrated only for sport and horse bettors, with a decrease on time spent gambling and an increase of gambling-related expectancies at the follow-up. Finally, we also observed that a majority of the participants were disturbed and irritated by pop-ups during their gambling session.Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrated the limited impact of pop-up warning messages on gambling behavior and cognition in Internet gamblers according to the type of game and the status of gamblers. The limited impact of warning messages on gambling behavior and the inconvenience of the pop-ups for Internet gamblers lead us to only consider warning messages as one piece of a larger responsible gambling strategy.Trial Registration Number: NCT01789580 on February 12, 2013.

Responsible gambling strategy information available on public-facing state lottery websites in the U.S

ABSTRACT The lottery is the most widely available form of legal gambling in the US. However, there is relatively little work in promoting responsible gambling strategies by lottery providers. The current study applies five evidence-based responsible gambling strategies, to the responsible gambling information made available on 46 state lottery websites. The study employed a content analysis of the public-facing websites. The study found that a minority of the state lottery sites provided readily available information to the public for each of five strategies. Responsible gambling information was limited in most cases with several notable and informative exceptions. Findings are discussed in the context of public health education and harm reduction approaches in the provision of gambling products. The responsible gambling framework is premised on the notion of well-informed participants. Poor integration of responsible gambling strategies for the most widely available form of gambling points to the shortcomings of this framework in practice. Lottery operators should strive to increase their adoption of a greater range of responsible gambling approaches and increase the visibility of relevant information for potential participants.

"I always walked out with an empty purse." Older adults' engagement with electronic gambling machines in Victoria, Australia.

Older adults are at an increased risk of experiencing gambling harm, which may be due to their use of high-intensity gambling products such as electronic gambling machines (EGMs). However, little research has explored the motivations behind older adults' engagement with EGMs, their understanding of the structural characteristics of EGMs, or their perceptions of risk associated with EGM gambling. This paper aims to address this gap in the literature. Focus groups were conducted in Melbourne, Australia with n=126 adults aged 55+, who had attended a club or pub in the last 12months. Topics included EGM attitudes and behaviours, structural characteristics of EGMs, and the potential risks associated with EGM gambling. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. For most participants, EGM gambling was secondary to their participation in other activities available within venues. Participants identified structural characteristics of EGMs; however, there were some misconceptions about how EGMs operated, including how or why machines paid out. Most participants perceived that they were not at risk of gambling harm because they engaged in "responsible" gambling practices such as setting limits. Older adults often engaged in EGM gambling because of its availability in community-based venues. Older adults' perception that they are implementing responsible gambling practices may be increasing their susceptibility to harm. SO WHAT?: There is a need to reduce the availability and accessibility of EGMs in community settings and develop public education programs that are tailored to the needs of older adults.

Gamblers’ Perception of the Playscan Risk Assessment: A Mixed-Methods Study

Responsible gambling (RG) tools are globally widespread; they aim to prevent or decrease the harm caused by gambling. However, existing research suggests that several included features do not decrease gambling or significantly reduce the subsequent harm. Most of the previous studies have used gambling data to understand the changes in gambling behavior. However, the literature lacks research regarding gamblers’ experience and perception of RG tools, which may provide insight into increasing the usage and effectiveness of RG tools. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore gamblers’ perception of their risk assessment in the RG tool Playscan regarding developing harmful gambling problems. Overall, 757 participants rated the perceived accuracy of their risk assessment and their perception of the overall RG tool that conducted the assessment. Participants were also allowed to leave a comment providing feedback, which was analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using logistic regression and structural equation modeling. Qualitative analyses revealed that most of the participants were pleased with the risk assessment and found it helpful. Moderated mediation analysis showed that participants’ assessment agreement partially mediated the association between expressing a negative view and their general view of Playscan. These results highlight the need to decrease the level of disagreement for promoting a better general view of RG tools to potentially increase their usage and effectiveness.

Factors Influencing Gambling Behavior Among Employees in Macau Gambling Industry.

Casino staff of the gambling industry seem to have a higher risk of pathological gambling than the general public because they share many previously identified risk factors, such as easy access to gambling activities. The studies in western countries reported casino staff have a higher prevalence of problematic gambling than the general public. However, some studies in Macau revealed gambling behavior among casino staff is not more common than among other residents there. A quantitative study was conducted with employees of Macau's casinos (N = 714) to understand gambling behavior among casino staff. Structural equation modeling was developed with time spent on gambling as a dependent variable, and awareness of responsible gambling, sensation-seeking tendency, psychological distress, demographic factors, peer/family pressure against gambling, and perception of expected rewards as independent variables. T-test, ANOVA, and correlations were computed for analyzing the obtained data. The structural equation modelling with the time spent on gambling as a dependent variable showed an acceptable model fit (The Chi-square = 5.567, Probability level = .696, CMIN/DF 0.696; NFI = 0.976; NNFI = 1.072; CFI = 1.000; RMSEA = 0.000). Psychological distress, sensation-seeking tendency, peer/family pressure against gambling all have significant effects on time spent on gambling. Perception of expected rewards showed the highest R square in the structural equation modeling and accounted for 77.9% cases of variance for the time spent on gambling. It is predicted that protective factors against pathological gambling include prohibition of gambling in the working venue, a satisfactory salary, and exposure to negative impacts of gambling via their job duties. Given that a high proportion of staff share most risk factors and less than 30% of respondents participated in gambling in the past year, further exploration of the protective factors from casino employees' point of view and further research on casino workers' "expected rewards" are recommended to generate ideas for improving the effectiveness of responsible gambling campaigns in future.

Social Facilitation Among Gamblers: A Large-Scale Study Using Account-Based Data

Previous research suggests that the presence of other gamblers in a gambling venue intensifies individual gambling behavior. To study such potential social facilitation among gamblers, we conduct a large-scale analysis of more than one million gambling sessions using player tracking data of the Norwegian gambling operator Norsk Tipping. In particular, we empirically assess the existence and strength of this facilitation, and how it manifests in differently utilized gambling venues. In our study, we control for (i) each individual's co-gamblers (frequent vs. occasional co-gamblers) and for (ii) the magnitude of individual's social participation (social seeking vs. social avoiding gamblers). We find that gamblers stake more money and play longer sessions the more crowded the venues get and that social avoiding gamblers gamble more when they play with their most-frequent co-gambler. Interestingly, our results strongly indicate that social avoiding gamblers are more susceptible to social facilitation than gamblers who are familiar with crowded gambling venues. Overall, our research is the first large-scale study of social facilitation among gamblers introducing a novel framework to empirically measure this effect. We believe that our work will have important practical implications for both gambling behavior researchers as well as the gambling industry in designing and evaluating responsible gambling tools.

Commentary on Heirene & Gainsbury: Re-thinking prevention in the gambling field through applying the triad universal, selective and indicated preventions.

Re-thinking the prevention of gambling-related harms by applying the triad of universal, selective and indicated prevention approaches could better target initiatives to populations. Heirene & Gainsbury promote an indicated prevention approach to encourage limit-setting, and targeting this to an appropriate time in the gambling course could optimize its acceptability by operators and effectiveness. Alcohol and substance use disorder fields tend to conceptualize prevention as ‘universal’ (offered to the whole population), ‘selective’ (targeting subpopulations with biological, psychological and/or socio-cultural risk factors) and ‘indicated’ (targeting people who are engaging in hazardous behaviours and have precursors or symptoms of substance use disorder) [1-4]. Indicated prevention programmes seek to refer people to appropriately matched brief or more intensive treatment interventions. The gambling field has developed its own prevention framework using the concept of ‘responsible gambling’ [5]. Responsible gambling was developed as a harm reduction approach to accommodate the divergent interests of gambling stakeholders, and is similar to very early models of alcohol harm reduction [6]. As discussed by Heirene & Gainsbury [7], contemporary responsible gambling approaches typically promote ways in which people can use tools to set limits to their wagering or self-exclude from gambling altogether. These are usually implemented through a selective prevention approach, although there is passive targeting of all gamblers. There is evidence that gambling operators assume that these prevention measures are sufficient [8]. However, additional prevention interventions providing information and better decision-making have been proposed to target causal, frequent and intensive gambling groups [9, 10]. Re-thinking prevention in the gambling field via a triad of universal, selective and indicated preventions could guide existing and future prevention initiatives in gambling, personalized to the targeted population. For instance, some tools could be more relevant in an indicated approach, targeting gamblers who have impairments in cognitive control. Self-exclusion is a good example, because previous research suggests that this action mainly appeals to people with a gambling disorder [11-13]. Nevertheless, it is still considered as a responsible gambling tool in a selective prevention approach for all gamblers. Developing self-exclusion in an indicated approach would provide the opportunity to proactively propose self-exclusion to highest risk gamblers, screened using validated tools, and further involve them in dedicated therapeutic interventions when needed. In their study [7], Heirene & Gainsbury tested a proactive message promoting limit-setting to all gamblers without a limit set (i.e. a group with a risky gambling pattern of use, placing their intervention in a proactive and selective prevention approach). An important finding was that the largest predictor of limit-setting was having previously set and then removed a limit. People who remove previous set limits will probably do so because either the limit was too low or because they are now experiencing symptoms of gambling disorder (GD) [14]. Further, this finding suggests that proactive limit-setting after the initial period of gambling on an operator's website could be effective in an indicated prevention approach for people with early symptoms of GD. The fact that once a responsible gambling tool is used it is more easily re-used supports previous findings on self-exclusion [15]. Heirene & Gainsbury discuss their findings in the light of previous data targeting gamblers with hazardous behaviours [16]. Although we should recognize that gambling operators may be resistant to displaying messages repeatedly so that their products have less appeal [6], there are important opportunities to further develop this approach to help prevent gambling-related harm. The triad of indicated, selective and universal prevention provides the opportunity to optimize effectiveness, feasibility in real life and acceptability of interventions. None.

Further Exploration of the Psychometric Properties of GamTest: A Rasch Analysis.

GamTest is a self-rating scale of negative consequences of gambling, included in the popular responsible gambling tool Playscan as part of an overall risk assessment and feedback feature. Two previous psychometric evaluations of this instrument yielded contradictory results: in an online high-gambling population, a five-factor model was supported and the instrument had overall good psychometric properties, but in a low-gambling population, the same factor structure was not supported. Because GamTest is used with both low- and high-gambling populations, more psychometric research is needed to fully understand how the instrument works. The current study examined, for the first time, psychometric performance among a sample of low-gambling respondents using a Rasch analysis. Results indicated that the instrument could be improved by decreasing the scale-steps and removing several problematic items demonstrating misfit. Furthermore, the findings indicated that some items functioned differently depending on gender, and that a shortened, improved nine-item version could not differentiate between different levels of risk. Our findings suggest that the instrument would arguably benefit from being adapted for use in a low-gambling population.

Responsible product design to mitigate excessive gambling: A scoping review and z-curve analysis of replicability.

Systematic mapping of evaluations of tools and interventions that are intended to mitigate risks for gambling harm. Scoping Review and z-curve analysis (which estimates the average replicability of a body of literature). We searched 7 databases. We also examined reference lists of included studies, as well as papers that cited included studies. Included studies described a quantitative empirical assessment of a game-based (i.e., intrinsic to a specific gambling product) structural feature, user-directed tool, or regulatory initiative to promote responsible gambling. At least two research assistants independently performed screening and extracted study characteristics (e.g., study design and sample size). One author extracted statistics for the z-curve analysis. 86 studies met inclusion criteria. No tools or interventions had unambiguous evidence of efficacy, but some show promise, such as within-session breaks in play. Pre-registration of research hypotheses, methods, and analytic plans was absent until 2019, reflecting a recent embracement of open science practices. Published studies also inconsistently reported effect sizes and power analyses. The results of z-curve provide some evidence of publication bias, and suggest that the replicability of the responsible product design literature is uncertain but could be low. Greater transparency and precision are paramount to improving the evidence base for responsible product design to mitigate gambling-related harm.

Changes Over Time and Predictors of Online Gambling in Three Norwegian Population Studies 2013-2019.

Objectives: To investigate changes over time and identify predictors of online gambling among gamblers by using three Norwegian representative samples covering a 6-year (2013–2019) period. We also aimed to identify different characteristics (including video game participation and video gaming problems) of online compared to offline gamblers.Methods: Data from gamblers (N = 15,096) participating in three cross-sectional surveys (2013, 2015, and 2019) based on random sampling from the Norwegian Population Registry were analyzed. Participants were asked how frequently they engaged in online gambling on different platforms (e.g., mobile phone). Data on sociodemographics, games gambled, gambling problems, gaming, and problem gaming were collected and analyzed by logistic regression analyses.Results: Overall, an increase in online gambling from 2013 to 2015 was found (a larger percentage of gamblers reported having gambled online at least once during the last year), and an increase in online gambling from 2015 to 2019 was found (more gamblers reported having gambled online at least once last year and at least once per week). The increase was largest for gambling on mobile phone. Consistent predictors of online gambling (at least once last year and at least once per week) were male gender, high income, being unemployed, being on disability pension, having work assessment allowance, being a homemaker or retiree, number of games gambled, and gambling problems.Conclusions: Online gambling, especially on mobile phones, has increased significantly during the last 6 years in Norway. Hence, gambling availability seems to have grown, which may pose a risk for development of gambling problems. Compared to offline gamblers, online gamblers were more likely to be men, young, not working or studying, gambling on several games, and having gambling problems. Responsible gambling efforts aiming at preventing or minimizing harm related to online gambling should thus target these groups.

Emergent gambling advertising; a rapid review of marketing content, delivery and structural features

BackgroundGambling advertising is well-funded and has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. As the presence and pervasiveness of gambling advertising increases, there is a corresponding need for empirical understanding of the characteristics and trends associated with emergent gambling advertisements and marketing. However, there is limited data on this rapidly evolving phenomenon.MethodsA rapid review was undertaken of the empirical research (2015–2020) that focused upon the content, delivery and structural features incorporated within emerging gambling advertising.ResultsTwenty-five studies were included in the review. The majority of these studies were conducted in either the UK or Australia; two jurisdictions that have unique and particularly liberal gambling environments. The literature suggests that emergent gambling advertising content is targeted, positively framed and in some instances, may overrepresent riskier bets. The sporting and social media spheres are densely populated with such advertisements that involve both direct and indirect marketing strategies. In relation to the online environment, there is evidence to suggest the emergence of more interactive advertisements that prompt user engagement. In addition, financial incentivisation has diversified and is often subject to strict and esoteric conditions. Despite these emergent trends, little provision is devoted to adequately displaying harm reductive or responsible gambling content within gambling advertising.ConclusionsOverall, there is a paucity of research and lack of methodological diversity concerning the characteristics of advertising within the literature. The barriers to investigating emerging gambling advertising are discussed alongside future research priorities. It is important for this research area to expand in order to appropriately inform ethical industry marketing and effective harm-reduction strategies. [Pre-registered online via Prospero: CRD42020184349].

"Show Me the Money": Preliminary Lessons from an Implementation of Intervention Tools at the Payment Gateway Level.

Traditional approaches that seek to study Responsible Gambling (RG) mainly focus on evaluating platform-based intervention tools applied on gambling operator sites. This paper reports on the implementation, at the payment-solution level, of an intervention tool that gambling customers used to deposit their bets. The approach pre-commits customers to set a single-point spending limit on their payment gateway account, effectively enabling them to apply their budget setting on all gambling platforms on which they choose to play. Ten users who have used the provision for at least six months and on two different gambling platforms were selected for an in-depth interview. Based on the findings from content analysis, the article argues that payment-level intervention approach can potentially (1) provide the overall gambling population with better financial literacy regarding their gambling habits, which promotes responsible spending behaviour, (2) elevate the strain on users to set up intervention tools on every individual platform, and (3) serve as a preventive measure regardless of the existence or absence of intervention tools at gambling sites. Furthermore, the results affirm a gap in existing research and a need for comprehensive guidelines and strategies for financial institutions to positively contribute towards the agenda of RG. The findings of this study highlight the need for revisiting theoretical and philosophical foundations of intervention tool studies and gambling policymaking as well as calls for reassessing how we problematised harmful gambling. The paper contributes to the research on gambling intervention tools.

A Comparison of Two GameSense Implementation Approaches: How Program Awareness and Engagement Relate to Gambling Beliefs and Behaviors.

Despite the size and scope of responsible gambling (RG) programs in the U.S., relatively few studies have evaluated these programs. Using survey data from 4795 subscribers to a casino loyalty program, we examined respondents' awareness ofand engagement with the GameSense RG program, and gambling beliefs and behaviors. We compared how differences in the implementation structure and visibility of the GameSense program (i.e., state-regulated with a standalone, branded GameSense center vs. corporate-integrated as part of loyalty program desks) was associated with GameSense awareness and engagement, perceptions of gambling operator RG practices, three Positive Play subscales (i.e., behavior, personal responsibility, and gambling literacy), understanding of gambling concepts, and use of RG strategies. More respondents who had visited the property with a state-regulated, branded center were aware of GameSense (36.5%), compared to respondents who visited other properties (7.4%). Perceptions of the operator's RG practices were generally high for all respondents. Multivariate analyses revealed no relationship between GameSense awareness and gambling belief or behavior outcomes, yet showed that respondents who picked up a GameSense brochure used slightly more RG strategies. Our findings suggest that the visibility of an RG program might influence program awareness and engagement but not certain RG-related behavioral outcomes.

From Responsible Gambling to Responsible Innovation?

A CGS Blog entry on responsible innovation and the gambling industry.

Discourses of responsible gambling and gambling harm: observations from Victoria, Australia

Within a neo-liberal economic orthodoxy, the gambling industry has succeeded in the discursive feat of transforming gambling from its previous pariah pastime status to normalized entertainment. This contemporary discourse of gambling as entertainment has repositioned gambling as harmless fun. The comfortable orthodoxy of ‘responsible gambling’ adopts language emphasizing concepts such as ‘personal responsibility’. A focus on the lack of self-control of delinquent users deflects attention away from harmful products, diminishing scrutiny of industry failure to appropriately address gambling harms. We analyzed data derived from interviews with stakeholders familiar with the gambling licensing process in Victoria, Australia, in order to identify if and how the discursive structures of this comfortable orthodoxy manifest in discussions on gambling. Data were derived from thematic analysis of 21 interviews with decision makers, industry advocates, and other stakeholders. Evidence highlights multiple recurring discursive structures of the ‘comfortable orthodoxy’, including the narrative of gambling as legalized recreation, personal choice and self-responsibility. Highlighting the pervasiveness of this discourse, these narratives were evident across the spectrum of informants. This research illustrates the way in which multiple gambling stakeholders deploy the discursive structures underpinning gambling regulation and operations. Discourses establish understanding of the nature of specific issues, and can influence responses to public health or other policy problems. In this instance, a discourse overwhelmingly favoring industry interests, has the potential to entrench and support harmful systems of exploitation and harm creation. Transforming the responsible gambling discourse is an important focus for public health activity concerned with reducing gambling related harm.

Studying Gambling Behaviors and Responsible Gambling Tools in a Simulated Online Casino Integrated With Amazon Mechanical Turk: Development and Initial Validation of Survey Data and Platform Mechanics of the Frescati Online Research Casino.

Introduction: Online gambling, popular among both problem and recreational gamblers, simultaneously entails both heightened addiction risks as well as unique opportunities for prevention and intervention. There is a need to bridge the growing literature on learning and extinction mechanisms of gambling behavior, with account tracking studies using real-life gambling data. In this study, we describe the development and validation of the Frescati Online Research Casino (FORC): a simulated online casino where games, visual themes, outcome sizes, probabilities, and other variables of interest can be experimentally manipulated to conduct behavioral analytic studies and evaluate the efficacy of responsible gambling tools.Methods: FORC features an initial survey for self-reporting of gambling and gambling problems, along with several games resembling regular real-life casino games, designed to allow Pavlovian and instrumental learning. FORC was developed with maximum flexibility in mind, allowing detailed experiment specification by setting parameters using an online interface, including the display of messages. To allow convenient and rapid data collection from diverse samples, FORC is independently hosted yet integrated with the popular crowdsourcing platform Amazon Mechanical Turk through a reimbursement key mechanism. To validate the survey data quality and game mechanics of FORC, n = 101 participants were recruited, who answered an questionnaire on gambling habits and problems, then played both slot machine and card-draw type games. Questionnaire and trial-by-trial behavioral data were analyzed using standard psychometric tests, and outcome distribution modeling.Results: The expected associations among variables in the introductory questionnaire were found along with good psychometric properties, suggestive of good quality data. Only 6% of participants provided seemingly poor behavioral data. Game mechanics worked as intended: gambling outcomes showed the expected pattern of random sampling with replacement and were normally distributed around the set percentages, while balances developed according to the set return to player rate.Conclusions: FORC appears to be a valid paradigm for simulating online gambling and for collecting survey and behavioral data, offering a valuable compromise between stringent experimental paradigms with lower external validity, and real-world gambling account tracking data with lower internal validity.

How Do People With Intellectual Disability Engage With and Understand Gambling? A Qualitative Study of Adults in Victoria, Australia.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the factors that may influence how and why people with intellectual disability may engage in gambling.Method: Nineteen people with intellectual disability were recruited from a disability advocacy organization and participated in face to face, semi-structured qualitative interviews. Open ended questions were used to explore participants' gambling participation, recall of, and attitudes toward, different gambling products, understanding of gambling harm, and awareness of responsible gambling messages.Results: All participants could remember gambling in their lifetime and some participants had recently engaged in gambling. Many participants were aware of different gambling products, and a few participants could describe in detail the technical aspects of electronic gambling machines. Most participants did not specifically recall seeing gambling harm minimization messages, however some described engaging in individual responsibility measures, such as limits and control, as they perceived this reduced the risks of experiencing harm.Conclusions: People with intellectual disability are engaging with gambling products in a similar way to the general community. Therefore, it is important to understand the different pathways that may lead people with intellectual disability to initiate and continue gambling and to ensure that they are aware of and protected from the potential risk.Implications for Public Health: Policy makers and practitioners should seek to understand and implement a range of strategies to reduce and prevent the harms associated with particular gambling products and environments for this population sub-group.

Clarifying Responsible Gambling and its Concept of Responsibility

Despite its widespread use, the concept of “responsible gambling” lacks a clear definition. Consequently, debate and confusion surround the respective government, regulator, industry operator, individual, and community accountability as these stakeholders attempt to develop strategies, policies, and procedures that will protect consumers by minimizing gambling-related harms. This brief report advances the argument that stakeholders should define responsible gambling as an outcome instead of an activity or process. Responsible gambling exists when individuals gamble within personally affordable limits. Therefore, we should not describe any policies, regulatory requirements, industry conduct, community advocacy, and individual decision-making as responsible gambling initiatives. More appropriately, these are actions taken to achieve the outcome of responsible gambling. We draw a distinction between the outcome (i.e., responsible gambling) and the action of stakeholders who can bring about this situation. Governments are accountable for establishing the legal gambling environment, regulators need to ensure compliance with government standards, industry must comply with regulatory requirements, communities need to influence public policy and public health advocacy, and ultimately individuals are the decision-making agents. Clarifying who is accountable for what activity provides stakeholders with the opportunity to target strategic groups to realize responsible gambling target outcomes.

"You don't really see the dangers of it at the time." Risk perceptions and behaviours of older female gamblers.

Older women are vulnerable to the risks associated with some forms of gambling. While research has examined how individuals functionally interact with gambling products, very limited research has investigated how individuals conceptualise and interpret the risks associated with these products. Theorists suggest that risk-taking is not based on a lack of knowledge but on the different ways people make sense of their lives. As such, this study aimed to understand the factors that may influence how older women who gamble on electronic gambling machines (EGMs) perceive the risks associated with gambling on these products. It examined how risk perceptions interacted with a range of complex social factors in women's everyday lives to influence their risk behaviours. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Australian women aged 55 and over who had been negatively impacted by EGM gambling. This study found that older women's risk perceptions of gambling were shaped by their early recreational experiences with gambling, rather than their current regular and harmful gambling behaviours. Risk perceptions of EGMs were often downplayed or ignored as women sought to maintain valued social identities within the venues. Women went through a process of risk negotiation whereby the benefits of this social interaction outweighed the potential harms associated with the machines. This also led them to deflect or ignore risk minimisation messaging which was completely focused on individual behaviours. This study signals the importance of moving away from individualised responsible gambling messages towards risk information about gambling products. This research also provides evidence of the need for regulation addressing the design features of EGMs that ultimately may make products safer and protect the most vulnerable from gambling harm.