The Importance of Friends and Family to Recreational Gambling, At-Risk Gambling, and Problem Gambling

Between September 2013 to May 2014, a representative sample of 9,523 Massachusetts adults were administered a comprehensive survey of past year gambling behavior. Based on responses to the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure, respondents were categorized as Non-Gamblers (2,523), Recreational Gamblers (6,271), At-Risk Gamblers (600), or Problem/Pathological Gamblers (129).

Qualitative Data

• Longitudinal studies have found that at-risk gambling is one of the strongest predictors of future problem gambling.
• The level of gambling involvement of family and friends is strongly related to Recreational Gambling, At-Risk Gambling, and Problem/Pathological Gambling.
• As has also been found in previous research, online gambling was a significant predictor of at-risk gambling.

Non-Gamblers

• Compared to Recreational gamblers Non-Gamblers were significantly more likely to:
  • Have a lower portion of friends and family that were regular gamblers;
  • Not use alcohol;
  • Have higher educational attainment;
  • Be a student, homemaker, disabled, or retired;
  • Be either 18-34 or 65+;
  • Be born outside the United States;
  • Not binge drink;
  • Have lower household income;
  • Not use tobacco;
  • Have less happy childhoods;
  • Not have served in the military;
  • Not have problems with drugs or alcohol; and
  • Be non-White.
• The strongest correlate of being a Non-Gambler was having a lower portion of friends and family who gamble regularly, which seems to act as a protective factor.
• There are no marked differences in the health and mental health status of Recreational Gamblers versus Non-Gamblers.

Recreational Gamblers

• Compared to Problem/Pathological Gamblers, Recreational Gamblers had demographic groups that merit special targeting for intervention, with most of these groups having been identified in previous analyses:
  • Males,
  • Blacks,
  • Lower educational attainment, and
  • Being born outside of the United States.

At-Risk Gamblers

• Gambling problems or high gambling involvement among family, friends, and colleagues increases the likelihood of being in the At-Risk Gambler category.
• At-Risk Gamblers were most likely to gamble at casinos, play the instant and daily lottery, gamble online, bet privately, and play bingo.
• In order of importance, people who were At-Risk Gamblers were significantly more likely to:
  • Be male;
  • Be born outside of the United States;
  • Have lower educational attainment;
  • Have lower household income;
  • Be a casino gambler;
  • Have a greater portion of friends and family that are regular gamblers; play instant lottery games;
  • Play daily lottery games;
  • Be an online gambler;
  • Participate in private betting;
  • Play bingo;
  • Not purchase raffle tickets;
  • Have mental health problems; and
  • Have no alcohol use in the past 30 days.
• Compared to Recreational Gamblers, At-Risk Gamblers were more likely to:
  • Gamble at casinos;
  • Play the instant and daily lottery;
  • Be male;
  • Gamble online; and
  • Be born outside the United States.

Problem/Pathological Gamblers

• In order of importance, people who were Problem/Pathological Gamblers were significantly more likely to:
  • Play daily lottery games;
  • Have a greater portion of friends and family that are regular gamblers;
  • Be Black;
  • Be a casino gambler;
  • Be male;
  • Be an online gambler;
  • Play instant lottery games;
  • Have behavioral addictions;
  • Have lower educational attainment;
  • Be born outside of the United States; and
  • Have less happy childhoods.
• Compared to Recreational Gamblers, Problem and Pathological Gamblers were more likely to:
  • Be Black,
  • Male,
  • Have lower educational attainment, and
  • Be born outside the United States.

Risk Factors

• Be male
• Be Black
• Be a casino gambler
• Be an online gambler
• Play daily lottery games
• Play instant lottery games
• Have behavioral addictions
• Have less happy childhoods
• Have lower educational attainment
• Be born outside of the United States
• Higher number of gambling formats
• Have a greater portion of friends and family that are regular gamblers

Protective Factors

• Having a lower portion of friends and family that are regular gamblers

Identified Conclusions

• To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze all of the subtypes of gambling behavior within one dataset and with Recreational Gambler—the most common type of gambler—as the reference group.
• Instant lottery games were also a strong predictor of at-risk gambling, which may be similarly related to the short period of time between the wager and the outcome and the ability to immediately rewager.
• Being born outside of the United States was correlated to problem gambling even when controlling for education and race/ethnicity.
• As has also been found in previous research, online gambling was a significant predictor of at-risk gambling. presumably due to its 24-hour availability, convenience, and the fact that it offers continuous forms of gambling.

Identified Recommendations

• Targeting the social networks of heavily involved Recreational Gamblers and At-Risk Gamblers (in addition to Problem/Pathological Gamblers) could be an important focus of efforts in problem gambling prevention.
• Certain demographic groups are well suited for targeted prevention, including:
  • Males
  • Individuals with lower educational attainment,
  • Immigrants and individuals with lower income have a higher risk profile.
  • Poorer health (implicated in the form of higher rates of mental health problems).
• From this research:
  • Gamblers need to be aware of the normalizing effect that their social group has on their own gambling behavior;
  • Friends and family of regular gamblers need to be aware of the facilitative role they have on that person’s gambling; and
  • All gamblers need to be aware that problem gambling (and presumably heavy gambling) has a significant genetic basis and thus they need to be particularly vigilant if they have a positive family history.