Gambling harms may be far more prevalent than we thought
A new report suggests that the mental health fallout of problem gambling could be significantly higher than previous estimates.
16 August 2024
Gambling is big business. According to the Gambling Commission, the value of the gambling market in the UK is a hefty £15.1 billion, with 48% of adults gambling every month. Some of this will be quite harmless, such as buying the odd lottery ticket. Yet problem gambling is a growing issue — and, according to new figures from the Commission, it's prevalence may be much higher than previously thought.
Unlike previous surveys, which took place over the phone, 9,804 participants were able to take part in this study either by post or online. The questionnaire shared with participants included questions on leisure and gambling activities, gambling harms such as relationship issues, as well as questions on participants' reasons for gambling and how it makes them feel.
As noted, 48% of adults reported taking part in gambling (though this number decreased to 27% when lotteries were removed from analysis). With lotteries included, most gambling took place online (an issue Research Digest touched on before), though without these draws in-person activities were more common. The National Lottery was the most common gambling activity, followed by other charity lotteries and then scratchcards.
Most (41%) of the participants stated that they liked gambling, though others (37%) felt more neutral, and 21% said they felt negatively towards it. Most people gambled to make money, but also because they felt it was fun and exciting; younger people were more likely to gamble for fun than for money.
While previous studies by the Commission placed the prevalence of problem gambling as low as 0.3%, the results from this survey are much higher, setting it at 2.8%, or up to 1.3 million people in the UK. Certain types of activity were more closely associated with problem gambling; in-person non-sports related events and online slots in particular.
Of those who had gambled, 1.6% reported relationship breakdown as a consequence, with 6.6% reducing spending on everyday items to accommodate gambling, 6.4% lying to family, and 5.5% feeling isolated. Men and those aged between 18 to 34 were the most likely to report experiencing negative consequences from their gambling, an important finding that could help tailor interventions to prevent harmful behaviour.
Out of all participants, 11.4% said they had thought about or attempted to take their life in the year leading up to the survey — of this group, 4.9% said it was related to their gambling. However, the 11.4% figure is significantly higher than other estimates, which the team notes may be due to how readily someone may share this information in previous face-to-face interviews. They do share concerns that the current study's estimate may, on the other hand, be over stated, and that there is no way to know which estimate is closer to the truth.
The study also highlights how far-reaching gambling harms can be. It wasn't just those who gamble themselves who experienced negative consequences: around 4.7% of people who took part in the study who knew somebody who gambled reported experiencing at least one severe consequence. Again, the most common of these was relationship breakdown (3.5%), while on the less severe end of things 9.9% said they felt embarrassed, guilty, or ashamed and 8.8% reported conflict or arguments because of someone else's gambling.
The Commission notes that the figures can't be directly compared to previous reports due to the study's new methodology; instead, this year's survey will act as a new baseline for measuring gambling harms.
We already know that gambling problems are a serious predictor of poor mental health, and reducing gambling harms was even part of the Government's latest suicide prevention strategy. What these figures add, however, is an indication that these problems may be more widespread than we previously thought, and that attempts to curb gambling harms should be a serious priority for politicians, policymakers, and mental healthcare practitioners.
Read the report in full:
