Evidence based papers and case studies used for policies
Request
Please can you provide me as a FOI request:
The titles of the academic papers and the case studies from other jurisdictions and any other associated materials that were the evidence base used by the Commission to support the introduction of the following policies:
- Affordability as per Proposed guidance document – Remote Customer interaction guidance (Proposed Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3), paragraph 4F
- Vulnerability as per Proposed guidance document – Remote Customer interaction guidance (Proposed Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3), Requirement 3
- The concept that betting in-play is a marker of harm - paragraph 5B (d)
Response
Dear Sir
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
The titles of the academic papers and the case studies from other jurisdictions and any other associated materials that were the evidence base used by the Gambling Commission to support the introduction of the following policies:
- affordability as per Proposed guidance document – Remote Customer interaction guidance (Proposed Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3), paragraph 4F
- vulnerability as per Proposed guidance document – Remote Customer interaction guidance (Proposed Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3), Requirement 3
- the concept that betting in-play is a marker of harm - paragraph 5B (d).
I can confirm that the Commission does hold information falling within the scope of your request.
The following includes evidence which was considered to inform the preparation of the Remote customer interaction guidance on the topics of financial risk and/or affordability, vulnerability and indicators of potential harm, specifically in-play betting.
Some studies were relevant for more than one subject category, and this has not always been replicated in the following content.
Every study listed as follows has its strengths and weaknesses and the listing of a report as follows should not be seen as endorsement by the Commission of the entirety of the findings or their application to the gambling sector.
Evidence that informed the preparation of the Remote customer interaction guidance
Affordability (Para 4F)
Various Commission enforcement cases
Related sub-topics, sources and links are Gambling Commission casework.
Office of National Statistics (ONS) data on personal and household finances
Related sub-topics, sources and links are Office of National Statistics (ONS): Personal and Household Finances (opens in new tab).
Links of financial losses correlated with harms
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Gambling Commission (2018) - Measuring gambling-related harms: A framework for action (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- Public Health England (2021) - Harms associated with gambling: An abbreviated systematic review (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- GamCare’s Annual Report (2020-21) - Gamcare (2020-21) Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements (opens in new tab)
- GamCare’s Annual Report (2021-22) - Gamcare (2021-22) Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements (opens in new tab)
- Nat Hum Behav 5, 319-326 (2021), Muggleton, N., Parpart, P., Newall, P. et al - The association between gambling and financial, social and health outcomes in big financial data (opens in new tab)
- Lower Risk Gambling Guidelines (opens in new tab).
The following have since been published in relation to the lower risk gambling guidelines:
International Gambling Studies (2022), D.C. Hodgins et al - Lower-risk gambling limits: linked analyses across eight countries (PDF) (opens in new tab)
Journal of Gambling Studies (2023), Rochester and Cunningham - Applying the Canadian Low-Risk Gambling Guidelines to Gambling Harm Reduction in England (opens in new tab).
Vulnerability (Req 3)
Approaches by other regulators and international bodies - Low Gambling Literacy - Learning condition (dyslexia, literacy, numeracy)
Ongoing review of approaches by other regulators – informed by workshops, participation in development of international standards, example documents also as shown here.
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Vulnerable People - How CAP and BCAP protect vulnerable people, ACAS (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- FCA (2015) Occasional Paper No. 8: Consumer Vulnerability. Last updated 2020. (opens in new tab)
- European Commission, Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency, Consumer vulnerability across key markets in the European Union : final report, Publications Office, 2016 (opens in new tab)
- Citizens Advice (2014) Tackling consumer vulnerability: regulators’ powers, actions and strategies (PDF) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria (2014) What do we mean by ‘vulnerable’ and ‘disadvantaged’ consumers?
- Competition and Markets Authority (2018) Research and Analysis: Vulnerable consumers (opens in new tab)
- Wardle, Astbury, Thurstain-Goodwin and Parker (2016) Exploring area-based vulnerability to gambling-related harm: Developing the gambling-related harm risk index.
Deprivation
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Health Survey for England 2018: Supplementary analysis on gambling - NHS Digital - PG rate by IMD (opens in new tab)
- Giuseppe Carrà, Cristina Crocamo & Paul Bebbington (2017) Gambling, geographical variations and deprivation: findings from the adult psychiatric morbidity survey, International Gambling Studies, 17:3, 459-470
- NatCen (2021) Exploring online patterns of play: Interim Report (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- NatCen (2022) Patterns of Play (opens in new tab)
- University of Bristol, PFRC (2021):The Geography of Gambling Premises in Great Britain (opens in new tab)
Young Adults
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
Participation rates: prevalence and PG rates for the 16-24 age group:
- Gambling Commission (various) Statistics on participation and problem gambling All reports available here (opens in new tab)
- Health Survey for England 2018 (opens in new tab)
Youth and Neurology:
- Chambers and Potenza (2003) Neurodevelopment, Impulsivity and Adolescent Gambling (opens in new tab)
- Ravindranath et al (2020) Influences of affective context on amygdala functional connectivity during cognitive control from adolescence through adulthood (opens in new tab)
- Fuhrmann, Knoll and Blakemore (2015) Adolescence as a Sensitive Period of Brain Development. Trends in cognitive sciences
Young Adults new freedoms
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
Incidence of new PG behaviour and new freedoms between 17 and 20:
- Forrest and McHale (2018) Gambling and Problem Gambling among Young Adults: Insights from a longitudinal study of parents and children (opens in new tab)
- Gambling Commission 2021, Exploring the gambling journeys of young people - Gambling Commission (opens in new tab)
- FCA 2017, The Financial Conduct Agency’s 2017 Financial Lives Survey (opens in new tab)
Physical Health
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Getting a good deal on a low income - final report (publishing.service.gov.uk) – intersection of physical disability and financial vulnerability (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- See also comparison with other regulators/ international comparisons
- Compliance casework based on workshops with compliance department of Commission
Mental Health
(There’s a link between MH problems, especially depression, and gambling – but it’s complex and likely to be bi-directional)
Depression and Online
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
Depression, and lockdown
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
Mental health and problem gambling
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Gambling behaviour in Great Britain 2016 (ctfassets.net) (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (2020) A Safer Bet. Online gambling and mental health (opens in new tab)
Suicidal behaviours
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Jolly et al (2021). Gambling in patients with major depressive disorder is associated with an elevated risk of suicide: Insights from 12-years of nationwide inpatient sample data. (opens in new tab)
- GambleAware (2020) Suicide-report.pdf (begambleaware.org) (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- Sharman et al (2019) (opens in new tab)
- Ronzitti et al, 2018 (opens in new tab)
Shame
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
Brain injury / Medication
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- PHE Summary (Page 91) (opens in new tab)
- BMJ Blog (2011) Dopamine agonists and pathological gambling - JNNP blog (bmj.com) (opens in new tab)
- Scavone et al (2020) Drugs-Induced Pathological Gambling: An Analysis of Italian Spontaneous Reporting System (opens in new tab)
- Olley, Blaszczynski and Lewis (2014) Dopaminergic medication in Parkinson’s disease and problem gambling (opens in new tab)
- Canale et al (2017) Is medicine use for nervousness associated with adolescent at-risk or problem gambling?
- Bhatti et al (2018) Traumatic brain injury as an independent risk factor for problem gambling (opens in new tab)
Older Adult
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- International body of evidence on vulnerabilities and comparison to other regulators (see before)
- Lived experience input
- See also bereavements/ life events
- Consumer vulnerability in later life: challenges and solutions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (opens in new tab)
Domestic Abuse
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- As with other risk factors, it seems that there are complex links and comorbidities are likely to be common.
- Lived experience input
- RET bodies evidence about domestic abuse and gambling.
- Illegal money lending team, including their lived experience input.
Change in circumstances (including bereavement)
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- International body of evidence on vulnerabilities and comparison to other regulators
- Commission casework based on discussions with compliance colleagues
- Lived experience input
Note: Crossover with social isolation
- EU Evidence Review – Life Events Consumer Vulnerability Across Key Markets in the European Union (opens in new tab)
- Occasional Paper No. 8: Consumer Vulnerability | FCA What do we mean by vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers discussion paper 2004.PDF (PDF) (opens in new tab)
High Risk Appetite / Impulsivity / Urgency
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- PHE Summary (Pg81) (opens in new tab)
- (Nower & Blaszczynski 2007) Impulsivity and Pathological Gambling: A Descriptive Model (opens in new tab)
- Lutri et al (2018) Impulsivity and gambling type among treatment seeking disordered gamblers: An explorative study. (opens in new tab)
- Mestre-Bach et al (2020) Dimensions of impulsivity in Gambling Disorder (opens in new tab)
- Blain, B., Gill, P.R., & Teese, R. (2015). Predicting problem gambling in Australian adults using a multifaceted model of impulsivity. (opens in new tab)
- Ciccarelli et al (2016) Reward preferences of pathological gamblers under conditions of uncertainty: An experimental study (opens in new tab)
Youth and Neurology:
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Chambers and Potenza (2003) Neurodevelopment, Impulsivity and Adolescent Gambling (opens in new tab)
Risk preference and causality:
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
In-Play Betting (Para 5B (d))
The information provided here relates to in-play betting and event frequency, which can be a factor in some in-play betting.
Patterns of play
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- NatCen (2021) Exploring online patterns of play: Interim Report (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- Note: updated report here: NatCen (2022) Patterns of Play (PDF) (opens in new tab)
Event Frequency
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
- Harris & Griffiths (2017) The Impact of Speed of Play in Gambling on Psychological and Behavioural Factors: A Critical Review (springer.com) (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- Parke, Parke and Blaszczynski (2016) Key issues in Product Based Harm-minimisation (opens in new tab)
- Parke & Parke 2017 Getting Grounded in Problematic Play (lincoln.ac.uk) (opens in new tab)
- Meyer et al (2011) Development of an assessment tool to evaluate the risk potential of different gambling types (opens in new tab)
- GamGard (opens in new tab)
- NatCen (2021) Exploring online patterns of play: Interim Report (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- Note: Updated report: NatCen (2022) Patterns of Play (opens in new tab)
- Harris et al (2020) The Relationship Between Gambling Event Frequency, Motor Response Inhibition, Arousal, and Dissociative Experience (opens in new tab)
Impulse Betting
Related sub-topics, sources and links are as follows:
Review of the decision
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