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The prevention paradox applies to some but not all gambling harms: Results from a Finnish population-representative survey
journal contribution
posted on 2021-06-21, 02:43 authored by Matthew BrowneMatthew Browne, Rachel Volberg, Matthew RockloffMatthew Rockloff, Anne H SalonenBackground and aims: The Prevention Paradox (PP) suggests that a large proportion of aggregate harm from gambling occurs to people who do not have a gambling disorder. However, it has not yet been tested using a population-representative sample. We aimed to test whether the PP applies to gambling in Finland. The prevalence rates of diverse harmful consequences from gambling were surveyed amongst a population-representative sample of past-year gamblers. Methods: The study used first wave data (N = 7,186) of Finnish Gambling Harms survey, collected via online and postal surveys in 2017. A subset of 3,795 adults (≥18 years), who had gambled at least monthly in 2016, were selected for analysis. Measurements: Gambling-related harms were evaluated with the 72-item Harms Checklist. Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM) measured respondents' probable disordered gambling from the subset of items for impaired control (4 questions) and other issues (3 questions). Findings: Consistent with previous findings, the majority of harms were reported by those in the less severe PPGM categories (i.e. scoring <5). However, considering each domain separately, this was true only for financial, emotional/psychological, and work/study harms. The PP was not supported for health, relationship, or social deviance harms. Conclusions: The population prevalence of the most serious harms (e.g. unsafe living conditions) is concentrated among those with severe impaired control issues. However, even excluding the ∼15% of harms occurring to occasional gamblers, most financial, emotional and work/study impacts occur to those with lower levels of control issues. Efforts at harm reduction should focus on the entire spectrum of issues that people experience from their gambling.
Funding
Category 2 - Other Public Sector Grants Category
History
Volume
9Issue
2Start Page
371End Page
382Number of Pages
12eISSN
2063-5303ISSN
2062-5871Location
HungaryPublisher
Akademiai KiadoPublisher DOI
Additional Rights
CC BY-NC 4.0Language
engPeer Reviewed
- Yes
Open Access
- Yes
Acceptance Date
2020-04-22External Author Affiliations
University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA; Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareEra Eligible
- Yes