Impacts of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Gambling Patterns in... : Journal of Addiction Medicine (original) (raw)

Original Research

Impacts of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Gambling Patterns in Australia: Consideration of Problem Gambling and Psychological Distress

Gainsbury, Sally M. PhD; Swanton, Thomas B. BA (Hons); Burgess, Martin T. PhD; Blaszczynski, Alex PhD

School of Psychology, Brain and Mind Centre, Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, The University of Sydney, Camperdown NSW, Australia.

Send correspondence to Sally M. Gainsbury, PhD, Faculty of Science, School of Psychology, Brain and Mind Centre, Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, The University of Sydney, 94 Mallett Street, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia. E-mail: [email protected].

Received 13 August, 2020

Accepted 15 November, 2020

Supported by the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic at the University of Sydney.

Over the last three years (2017–2020), Dr. Gainsbury has worked on projects that have been received funding and in-kind support through her institution from Australian Research Council, NSW Liquor and Gaming, Svenska Spel Research Council, Responsible Wagering Australia, Australian Communication and Media Authority, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Association for Gambling Studies, GameCo, ClubsNSW, Crown Resorts, Wymac Gaming. Dr. Gainsbury is currently a member (2019–20) of the National Council on Problem Gambling International Advisory Board (Singapore) and receives an honorarium for this role as well as travel expenses to attend an annual meeting. She is a member of the Steering Committee for Remote Gambling Research and the Independent Research Oversight Panel both run by GambleAware, which provide an honorarium. Dr. Gainsbury has received honorarium directly and indirectly for research, presentations, and advisory services from Credit Suisse, Oxford University, ClubsNSW, Clubs4Fun, Centrecare WA, Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, Crown, Department of Social Services, Community Clubs Victoria, Financial and Consumer Rights Council, Australian Communications and Media Authority, Manitoba Gambling Research Program, VGW Holdings, Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corporation, Ministry of Health, Clayton Utz, Greenslade, Generation Next. Dr. Gainsbury has received travel expenses to attend meetings from Franklin Women, GambleAware, Community Clubs Victoria, Centrecare WA, Financial and Consumer Rights Council, Stiftelsen Nordiska Sällskapet för Upplysning om Spelberoende, Generation Next, Alberta Gambling Research Institute, QLD Treasury, Responsible Gambling Council.

Thomas Swanton has received a PhD scholarship and research grant funded under the NSW Government's Responsible Gambling Fund Research Capacity Grants, with support from the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling. He has received honoraria for research advisory services from GambleAware, an independent UK charity that seeks to minimize gambling harms and which receives voluntary donations from the gambling industry.

Alexander Blaszczynski has conducted research funded directly by the Australian or international government, or government-related funding agencies, and industry operators. These include Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, ClubsNSW, Dooleys Club Lidcombe, Aristocrat Leisure Industries, Australian Communications Media Authority, Gaming Technologies Association, Gambling Research Australia, Responsible Wagering Australia, Commonwealth Bank, NSW Department of Trade and Investment (NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing), La Loterie Romande (Switzerland), Camelot (United Kingdom), La Française des Jeux (France), Loto-Quebec (Canada), and National Lottery (Belgium), and the National Association for Gambling Studies. He is on the responsible gambling advisory panel for Crown Casino. He has received honorariums from Manitoba Gambling Research Program and GambleAware (formerly UK Responsible Gambling Trust) for grant reviews, and royalties from several publishers for books and book chapters. He has also received travel and accommodation expenses from Leagues Clubs, Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, USA National Council on Problem Gambling, Japan Medical Society for Behavioural Addiction, Le Comité d’organisation Congrès international sur les troubles addictifs, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, and New Horizons (British Columbia Lottery Corporation to attend conferences and meetings.

Martin T Burgess reports no conflicts of interest.

The University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee provided ethical approval for the study (protocol number 2019/213).

Author contributions: SG: Conceptualisation; Methodology; Investigation; Writing – Original Draft, Review & Editing; Supervision. TS: Conceptualisation; Methodology; Investigation; Formal analysis; Writing – Original Draft, Review & Editing; Project administration. MB: Methodology; Formal analysis; Writing – Review & Editing; Visualisation. AB: Conceptualisation; Methodology; Investigation; Writing – Review & Editing; Supervision.

Preregistration statement: The hypotheses and confirmatory analysis plan relating to this study were preregistered on Open Science Framework before analysis of the data: https://osf.io/tskdq.

Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citation appears in the printed text and is provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's Web site (www.journaladdictionmedicine.com).

Abstract

Objectives:

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced access to gambling and contributed to widespread psychological distress. Psychological distress is a known risk factor for problem gambling as it can motivate excessive gambling as a coping response. The availability of gambling is considered a factor in maintaining problems. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of the shutdown of gambling venues on Australians, particularly among those vulnerable to mental health problems and gambling disorder.

Methods:

Australian adults who had gambled at least once in the past 12 months (N = 764, 85.2% male) completed an online cross-sectional survey. Self-report measures retrospectively assessed typical monthly gambling frequency and expenditure before and after the COVID-19 venue shutdown, problem gambling, and psychological distress.

Results:

Significant median decreases in gambling frequency were observed, both online and overall. No relationship was found between psychological distress and baseline or increases in gambling. Greater problem gambling severity was related to higher baseline gambling, but not to increases in gambling. Exploratory analysis showed that individuals engaged in moderate-risk gambling, but not problem gambling, were more likely to report increased gambling frequency compared to nonproblem and low-risk gamblers combined.

Conclusions:

Findings provide important insights into how changes in availability influence gambling participation, and for understanding the effectiveness of forced restrictions and venue exclusion strategies. Most people moderated their gambling when venue-based gambling was unavailable and opportunities for sports betting were limited. However, harms experienced by individuals with some gambling problems may have been exacerbated during the period of limited access. Policies to enhance prevention and treatment of gambling problems are necessary even when availability is reduced.