British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007 secondary analysis: gambling participation and problem gambling
This analysis was undertaken by Professor Leighton Vaughan
Williams, Director of the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham
Business School, Nottingham Trent University, in
conjunction with Dr Lionel Page, Dr Jonathan Parke and Jane
Rigbye.
The team applied sophisticated statistical techniques to the
dataset of the
British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007 to gain
further insights about patterns of gambling participation and
problem gambling. The report makes a number of
recommendations for improving the methodology of future prevalence
surveys and is based on priorities for analysis identified by the
Commission in conjunction with the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport.
The full report can be found at:
British
gambling prevalence survey: secondary analysis - October
2008
Key findings
Although many of the findings mirrored those of the BGPS 2007,
this analysis offered further insights into problem gambling
behaviour.
The authors reported that when considering the association
between gambling activity and problem gambling it is important to
consider the frequency with which gamblers participate in that
activity rather than simply past year and past week participation.
This finding should be interpreted as inviting caution about the
order of activities associated with problem gambling in the BGPS
2007 rather than as suggesting an alternative ranking. It was
not possible through this analysis to learn what causes problem
gambling.
The BGPS 2007 report tended to suggest, in the absence of
considering frequency, that a higher level of problem
gambling was linked with spread betting, fixed odds betting
terminals (FOBTs) and betting exchanges. This secondary analysis
found that when frequency of play was taken into account the
ranking of the activities most linked with problem gambling (ie
horse racing, slot machines and scratchcards) was not the same
as the BGPS 2007. This must be interpreted very carefully, however
as the estimation technique did not allow us to say if these
gambling activities are significantly more closely linked with
problem gambling than other activities.
Individuals who were male, single, had a lower level of
qualifications, lower incomes and whose parents had gambled were
more likely to report gambling problems. However, more generally,
any individual regardless of gender, marital status, education and
family background was deemed to be at risk.
Most gamblers tend to participate in core activities (such as
the National Lottery, bingo and scratchcards) though there was
a distinct subset of gamblers who participate in more procedurally
sophisticated or technical types of games (such as spread betting,
betting exchanges and online gambling).
Participation in gambling activities varied across a range of
socio-demographic variables. For example, younger players tended to
prefer to gamble on slot machines or through private betting, males
were more likely to gamble online, on spread betting, on betting
exchanges and on FOBTs.
The study also made recommendations for improving the
methodology of future prevalence surveys, including collecting data
on additional variables that may provide better insights into the
determinants of problem gambling and gambling behaviour.
Page last reviewed: April 2011