scholarly journals Modeling Early Gambling Behavior Using Indicators from Online Lottery Gambling Tracking Data: Longitudinal Analysis

10.2196/17675 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e17675
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Challet-Bouju ◽  
Jean-Benoit Hardouin ◽  
Elsa Thiabaud ◽  
Anaïs Saillard ◽  
Yann Donnio ◽  
...  

Background Individuals who gamble online may be at risk of gambling excessively, but internet gambling also provides a unique opportunity to monitor gambling behavior in real environments which may allow intervention for those who encounter difficulties. Objective The objective of this study was to model the early gambling trajectories of individuals who play online lottery. Methods Anonymized gambling‐related records of the initial 6 months of 1152 clients of the French national lottery who created their internet gambling accounts between September 2015 and February 2016 were analyzed using a two-step approach that combined growth mixture modeling and latent class analysis. The analysis was based upon behavior indicators of gambling activity (money wagered and number of gambling days) and indicators of gambling problems (breadth of involvement and chasing). Profiles were described based upon the probabilities of following the trajectories that were identified for the four indicators, and upon several covariates (age, gender, deposits, type of play, net losses, voluntary self-exclusion, and Playscan classification—a responsible gambling tool that provides each player with a risk assessment: green for low risk, orange for medium risk and red for high risk). Net losses, voluntary self-exclusion, and Playscan classification were used as external verification of problem gambling. Results We identified 5 distinct profiles of online lottery gambling. Classes 1 (56.8%), 2 (14.8%) and 3 (13.9%) were characterized by low to medium gambling activity and low values for markers of problem gambling. They displayed low net losses, did not use the voluntary self-exclusion measure, and were classified predominantly with green Playscan tags (range 90%-98%). Class 4 (9.7%) was characterized by medium to high gambling activity, played a higher breadth of game types (range 1-6), and had zero to few chasing episodes. They had high net losses but were classified with green (66%) or orange (25%) Playscan tags and did not use the voluntary self-exclusion measure. Class 5 (4.8%) was characterized by medium to very high gambling activity, played a higher breadth of game types (range 1-17), and had a high number of chasing episodes (range 0-5). They experienced the highest net losses, the highest proportion of orange (32%) and red (39%) tags within the Playscan classification system and represented the only class in which voluntary self-exclusion was present. Conclusions Classes 1, 2, 3 may be considered to represent recreational gambling. Class 4 had higher gambling activity and higher breadth of involvement and may be representative of players at risk for future gambling problems. Class 5 stood out in terms of much higher gambling activity and breadth of involvement, and the presence of chasing behavior. Individuals in classes 4 and 5 may benefit from early preventive measures.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Challet-Bouju ◽  
Jean-Benoit Hardouin ◽  
Elsa Thiabaud ◽  
Anaïs Saillard ◽  
Yann Donnio ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Individuals who gamble online may be at risk of gambling excessively, but internet gambling also provides a unique opportunity to monitor gambling behavior in real environments which may allow intervention for those who encounter difficulties. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to model the early gambling trajectories of individuals who play online lottery. METHODS Anonymized gambling‐related records of the initial 6 months of 1152 clients of the French national lottery who created their internet gambling accounts between September 2015 and February 2016 were analyzed using a two-step approach that combined growth mixture modeling and latent class analysis. The analysis was based upon behavior indicators of gambling activity (money wagered and number of gambling days) and indicators of gambling problems (breadth of involvement and chasing). Profiles were described based upon the probabilities of following the trajectories that were identified for the four indicators, and upon several covariates (age, gender, deposits, type of play, net losses, voluntary self-exclusion, and Playscan classification—a responsible gambling tool that provides each player with a risk assessment: green for low risk, orange for medium risk and red for high risk). Net losses, voluntary self-exclusion, and Playscan classification were used as external verification of problem gambling. RESULTS We identified 5 distinct profiles of online lottery gambling. Classes 1 (56.8%), 2 (14.8%) and 3 (13.9%) were characterized by low to medium gambling activity and low values for markers of problem gambling. They displayed low net losses, did not use the voluntary self-exclusion measure, and were classified predominantly with green Playscan tags (range 90%-98%). Class 4 (9.7%) was characterized by medium to high gambling activity, played a higher breadth of game types (range 1-6), and had zero to few chasing episodes. They had high net losses but were classified with green (66%) or orange (25%) Playscan tags and did not use the voluntary self-exclusion measure. Class 5 (4.8%) was characterized by medium to very high gambling activity, played a higher breadth of game types (range 1-17), and had a high number of chasing episodes (range 0-5). They experienced the highest net losses, the highest proportion of orange (32%) and red (39%) tags within the Playscan classification system and represented the only class in which voluntary self-exclusion was present. CONCLUSIONS Classes 1, 2, 3 may be considered to represent recreational gambling. Class 4 had higher gambling activity and higher breadth of involvement and may be representative of players at risk for future gambling problems. Class 5 stood out in terms of much higher gambling activity and breadth of involvement, and the presence of chasing behavior. Individuals in classes 4 and 5 may benefit from early preventive measures.


Author(s):  
Hannah Briony Thorne ◽  
Matthew Justus Rockloff ◽  
Sally Anne Ferguson ◽  
Grace Elizabeth Vincent ◽  
Matthew Browne

Gambling has significant costs to the community, with a health burden similar in scale to major depression. To reduce its impact, it is necessary to understand factors that may exacerbate harm from gambling. The gambling environment of late-night licensed venues and 24/7 online gambling has the potential to negatively impact sleep and increase alcohol consumption. This study explored gambling, alcohol, and sleep problems to understand whether there is a relationship between these three factors. Telephone interviews were conducted with a representative sample of Australian adults (n = 3760) combined across three waves of the National Social Survey. Participants completed screening measures for at-risk gambling, at-risk alcohol consumption, insomnia (2015 wave only), and sleep quality. There were small but significant positive correlations between problem gambling and alcohol misuse, problem gambling and insomnia, and problem gambling and poor sleep quality. A regression model showed that gambling problems and alcohol misuse were significant independent predictors of insomnia. A separate regression showed gambling problems (and not alcohol misuse) were a significant predictor of poor sleep quality, but only in one survey wave. Findings suggest that gambling, alcohol, and sleep problems are related within persons. Further research should examine the mechanisms through which this relationship exists.


2011 ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nerilee Hing ◽  
Sally Gainsbury

This study examines gambling and problem gambling among gaming venue staff and provides a quantitative analysis that is directly comparable to the general population. A sample of 511 staff from casinos, hotels, and clubs in Queensland, Australia completed a questionnaire. Results indicate that employees exceed the average for gambling participation, regular gambling, and usual gambling duration for every type of gambling for which comparisons could be made. Problem gambling rates amongst staff were 9.6 times higher than for the Queensland population. Problem and moderate-risk gamblers were typically males who worked around gambling facilities and assisted patrons with gambling. A substantial proportion of problem and moderate-risk gamblers report increasing their gambling since commencing work. These results are of interest, given the importance of understanding how exposure interacts with gambling behaviour, of debates about the nature of this interaction, and of industry-based responsible gambling policies that particularly focus on gaming venue employees.


Author(s):  
Jakob Jonsson ◽  
David C. Hodgins ◽  
Ingrid Munck ◽  
Per Carlbring

Abstract Telephone and letter-based motivational interventions with high expenditure gamblers have significant short and long term positive effects on gambling and use of responsible gambling tools. This report examines how different subtypes of gamblers, based upon patterns of play, are differentially affected. A randomized controlled trial design with three conditions (n = 1003 in each): feedback intervention by letter, telephone or a no-contact control condition. Subtypes of gamblers were derived by latent class analyses (LCA) based upon gambling behavior pre intervention. The participants were customers of Norsk Tipping gambling platforms. 1003 statistical triplets from the top 0.5% of customers based upon annual expenditure, matched on sex, age, and net losses. Primary outcome measure was gambling theoretical loss (TL), derived from the Norsk Tipping customer database. The LCA identified six subtypes: High Casino, High Sport, High Lottery, High Video lottery terminal (VLT), Lottery/Mix and Bingo/Casino. There were almost no differences in change in TL between the six subtypes of gamblers receiving the letter or telefone interventions respectively. However, the choice of contact by letter or telephone did have different effects for the different gambling subtypes. Sending a letter seems like a cost effective alternative to telephone contact for the High Lottery type, but telephone contact performs better for High Casino, High Sport and High VLT customers. Responsible gambling interventions can be improved by subtyping of gamblers.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Lai Kuen Wong

Internet gambling was examined among 422 Macau students (240 male; 182 female) aged 12-22, who were recruited from 6 schools. Results indicated that 6.6% of the participants had gambled online in the past year, wagering on soccer matches (50%), mahjong (35.7%), and casino games (14.3%). They were attracted by the operators' acceptance of low wagers (39.3%), anonymity assurance (28.6%), and convenience and accessibility (25%). Using the Massachusetts Gambling Screen (MAGS; Shaffer, LaBrie, Scanlan, & Cummings, 1994), 10.7% and 25% of the Internet gamblers could be classified as problem and pathological gamblers, respectively. Males were twice as likely as females to gamble online and have gambling problems. Rates of participation and problem gambling increased with school grades. Survey results shed light on prevention.


Author(s):  
Michael Auer ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths

AbstractDespite the popularity of horserace gambling around the world, there is surprisingly little in-depth research on the topic. Additionally, studies suggest that motives for gambling are an important proximal factor related to problematic gambling among young people and adults. The present study investigated reasons for gambling among Norwegian horse bettors utilizing questions based on the Reasons for Gambling Questionnaire. The Norwegian gambling operator Rikstoto tracks all players’ behavior across all game types on the internet as well as land-based gambling and provided the data for the study. Consequently, the responses to the questions were correlated with actual gambling behavior. The authors were given access to an anonymized dataset of 3627 players (934 females and 2693 males) from the Norwegian horse betting operator Rikstoto who all completed a short survey. The reasons for gambling most endorsed by horserace bettors were to win big prizes and for excitement. The least endorsed reasons for gambling were to impress other people and to decrease tension. Gambling for money and gambling for recreation and coping were the most highly correlated with self-reported problem gambling. Age was significant and negatively correlated with self-reported gambling problems. The number of bets made, the amount of money consciously bet (i.e., players choosing the horse(s) compared to letting a random generator choose), as well as the monthly loss limit were significant and positively correlated. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate (i) motivations to gamble combining self-report data with data from a real-world setting, (ii) horserace betting with actual player data, and (iii) correlations between self-reported information about gambling problems with actual gambling behavior and self-reported motivation to play. Consequently, the findings are of high existential value to the gambling studies field.


Author(s):  
Kyonghwa Kang ◽  
Jong Sun Ok ◽  
Hyeongsu Kim ◽  
Kun-Sei Lee

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gambling factors related with the gambling problem level of adolescents to provide basic information for the prevention of adolescent gambling problems. The data was drawn from the 2015 Survey on Youth Gambling Problems of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems for Korean students in grades 7–11 (ages 13–17 years) and included 14,011 study subjects (average age 14.9 years, 52.5% male). The lifetime gambling behavior experience was 42.1%, and 24.2% had a gambling behavior experience within the past three months. The past three-month prevalence of problem gambling was 1.1%. The gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling include the presence of nearby gambling facilities, having personal relationships with people that gamble, a higher number of experienced gambling behaviors, male adolescents, and a greater amount of time spent gambling. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report to identify gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling in Korean adolescents using national data. These findings suggest that gambling prevention efforts must consider not only access to individual adolescents as early intervention, but also environmental strategies such as accessibility regulations and alternative activities.


Author(s):  
Maris Catania ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths

Online gambling has continued to grow alongside new ways to analyze data using behavioral tracking as a way to enhance consumer protection. A number of studies have analyzed consumers that have used voluntary self-exclusion (VSE) as a proxy measure for problem gambling. However, some scholars have argued that this is a poor proxy for problem gambling. Therefore, the present study examined this issue by analyzing customers (from the gambling operator Unibet) that have engaged in VSE. The participants comprised of costumers that chose to use the six-month VSE option (n = 7732), and customers that chose to close their Unibet account due to a specific self-reported gambling addiction (n = 141). Almost one-fifth of the customers that used six-month VSE only had gambling activity for less than 24 h (19.15%). Moreover, half of the customers had less than seven days of account registration prior to six-month VSE (50.39%). Customers who use VSE are too different to be treated as a homogenous group and therefore VSE is not a reliable proxy measure for problem gambling. The findings of this research are beneficial for operators, researchers, and policymakers because it provides insight into gambling behavior by analyzing real player behavior using tracking technologies, which is objective and unbiased.


Author(s):  
Edmund R. Thompson ◽  
Gerard P. Prendergast ◽  
Gerard H. Dericks

AbstractThis study offers both the first systematic investigation of the relationship between the five-factor personality model and general (ostensibly non-problem) lottery gambling, and the first application of Thompson and Prendergast’s (2013) bidimensional model of luck beliefs to gambling behavior. Cross-sectional analyses (N = 844) indicate the bidimensional model of luck beliefs significantly accounts for variance in lottery gambling that is discrete from and greater than that of the five-factor personality model. Moreover, the broad pattern of relationships we find between presumably harmless state-sponsored lottery gambling and both personality and luck beliefs tend to parallel those found in studies of problem gambling, suggesting implications for quality of life and public policy in relation to lottery gambling.


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