Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling

1. Introduction to Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling

1.1. Background to the research

Last year, the Gambling Commission published findings from its first annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB). This survey collected data from a representative random probability sample of more than 9,700 adults in Great Britain, providing insight into gambling behaviours and their potential negative consequences on health, resources and relationships. Participants included people who have, and have not, engaged in gambling. They were asked questions about their views and experiences of playing different games, lotteries and betting, and the effects of these activities on their lives.

Part of the development of the GSGB involved a move towards a more holistic view of gambling and gambling consequences. This included going beyond solely relying on measures based on clinical notions of ‘problem gambling’, such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). New questions regarding gambling consequences developed as part of the GSGB include consequences for people who gamble as well as those affected by someone else’s gambling. Impacts covered by these new questions relate to finances, relationships, work and study, or crime. They could be severe in nature (for example, experience of violence or abuse) or potentially adverse (for example, experience of conflict with family or friends).

The GSGB found that 2.8 percent of people who had gambled in the past year experienced at least one severe consequence from their gambling (for example, committing a crime to fund gambling or pay gambling debts). Between 4.0 percent and 6.7 percent of participants experienced other adverse consequences from their own gambling (for example, lying to family, or others, to hide the extent of their gambling).

1.2. Research aims

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) were commissioned to conduct qualitative research with a subset of participants who completed the GSGB and indicated that they had experienced severe and/or potentially adverse consequences from their own gambling in the previous 12 months. 1 This research aimed to explore the experiences and journeys of these individuals and provide deeper insights into varied experiences of adverse consequences from gambling, including the interrelations between different consequences (either positive or negative). This research builds on the existing survey data and addresses gaps in the GSGB evidence base, as well as some of the broader evidence gaps that the Gambling Commission identified as part of their Evidence gaps and priorities 2023 to 2026. These include early gambling experiences and gateway products, the range and variability of gambling experiences, gambling-related harms and vulnerability, and the impact of operator practices. The research questions were:

1. What journeys lead people to experience adverse and/or severe gambling consequences?
2. What external factors influence and/or contribute to adverse and/or severe gambling consequences?
3. How are different adverse and/or severe gambling consequences connected in people’s lived experience?
4. What measures and practices have prevented adverse and/or severe consequences from occurring?

1.3. Report structure

This report is divided into the following sections:

• chapter 2 outlines the research methodology
• chapter 3 provides context for the report by summarising the impacts of gambling on participants
• chapter 4 discusses participants’ journeys with adverse or severe consequences from gambling
• chapter 5 considers the interrelation of different adverse or severe consequences from gambling
• chapter 6 explores the measures and practices participants have used to prevent or reduce adverse consequences
• chapter 7 summarises key findings from the research and provides recommendations on areas for future consideration.

References

¹ One of the Gambling Commission’s priorities remains to also understand people’s experience of adverse consequences as a result of someone else’s gambling; however, the present study’s purpose was to only look at people’s experiences of adverse consequences from their own gambling.

2. Methodology to Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling

2.1. Sampling and recruitment

In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 people who completed the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. Participants were selected based on their survey responses to questions about their gambling participation and their experience of severe and potentially adverse consequences of gambling in the past year – this was our ‘primary sampling criteria'. Selected participants had gambled in the last 12 months and experienced:

• at least 1 severe consequence from their own gambling (responding ‘yes’ to one or more of the 4 items)
• at least 2 potential adverse consequences from their own gambling (responding ‘very often’ or ‘fairly often’ to 2 or more of the 6 items) or
• had responded ‘occasionally’ to at least 3 of the potential adverse consequences from their own gambling, and who had a PGSI score of more than 3.

The initial sampling strategy aimed to recruit participants exclusively from Year 1 of the GSGB (fieldwork between July 2023 and February 2024). Following an accurate assessment of the sample, fewer cases than expected (169 in total) in Year 1 of the survey met the criteria for recruitment. Therefore, we opened the sampling up to include cases from the first wave of Year 2 data collection (69 in total; fieldwork between January 2024 and April 2024). However, the 2 samples are largely similar and completed the survey at similar times. In total, 17 interviews were conducted with participants from Year 1 of the survey, and 8 participants from Year 2, allowing data saturation to be reached.

Survey participants who met the sampling criteria and had agreed to be re-contacted were sent an email inviting them to take part in an interview. If participants expressed interest, a short screening call was arranged to provide further information about the research, answer any questions and find a suitable time for an interview.

To ensure that this research involved people with diverse experiences, we also monitored secondary sampling criteria, namely demographic factors (age, gender, and ethnicity), PGSI scores, types of gambling activities participated in, and the types of consequences experienced. The following table (table 1) shows the demographic characteristics of participants included in the research.

Table 1: Sample of participants

Sample of participants

Attribute	Number of participants
Age
18 to 34	6
35 to 54	17
55 or over	2

2.2. Data collection

Interviews were conducted in January, February and March 2025, lasted up to 60 minutes, and took place over the phone or online (MS Teams).

A topic guide was developed in collaboration with the Gambling Commission and their Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) (see Annex A). A topic guide is a tool used for interviews which sets out key discussion topics. This ensures a consistent approach across interviews while allowing the discussion to remain participant-led. The topic guide covered areas of interest for this research (for example, first experiences and journeys with gambling consequences, and relationships between gambling consequences).

During the interviews, researchers created a timeline as a visual tool to support the understanding of the participants’ journeys with gambling and, when possible, they were shared on screen with the participant to help elicit their memories and reflections. The timelines portrayed a chronological account of gambling consequences, relationships between gambling consequences, and external factors that may have affected gambling consequences.

2.3. Lived experience involvement

The Commission’s LEAP informed the development of materials and methods used for this research. The panel reviewed and provided feedback on the interview topic guide, the participant information sheet, and the aftercare leaflet. They also supported in piloting the timeline approach which was taken to explore participants’ journeys with gambling. There were 3 members of the panel who took part in pilot interviews with the research team and created timelines of their gambling journeys and subsequently fed back on their experience which allowed the research team to refine the approach.

2.4. Ethics

This study was approved by NatCen’s Research Ethics Committee. The topics of gambling and gambling harm are potentially sensitive, so NatCen sought to reduce any risk of psychological harm for those taking part. All participants received an information sheet which set out the purpose of the research and explained what would happen to participant data. Participants were reminded of their right to withdraw before and during the interview. Participants were also signposted to a list of organisations that they could contact if the subject matter of the research prompted any upset or distress.

2.5. Analysis approach

With participants’ permission, all interviews were recorded and transcribed to support analysis. Data was analysed and managed using the ‘framework’ approach. 2In this approach, relevant information from each interview is written up into a framework, where each row represents one interview, and each column represents a research question or sub-question. This enabled the research team to assess the evidence relevant to each question. Analysis explored the full range of experiences and views, interrogating data to identify similarities and differences between participants and sought to explain patterns and themes.

This report does not provide numerical findings, since sampling for this qualitative research was purposive and not representative; therefore, it cannot support numerical analysis. Instead, the qualitative findings provide in-depth insights into the range of views and experiences of participants and verbatim quotes and timelines are used to illustrate these. These qualitative findings can support contextualising quantitative findings from the GSGB.

2.6. Strengths and limitations of the research

Working with the Commission’s LEAP allowed the research team to refine the research approach and tools, including identifying more sensitive elements of data collection, and helping to establish ways to reduce the risk of psychological harm from taking part. Piloting the timeline approach with members of the panel led to methodological developments regarding mirroring participant language, reducing the length of time that the timeline was shared on screen during the interview, and checking with the participant whether they were happy with how their experience was described. We recommend that future research on similar topics also seek guidance from those with lived experience.

Due to recruitment and time constraints, it was not possible to systematically adjust the recruitment strategy to reach a fully diverse sample. Therefore, our achieved sample had a higher proportion of men (17 participants) compared to women (8 participants) and a higher proportion of those who were aged 35 to 54 compared to other age groups, particularly those aged over 55. Research shows that gambling harms vary between different age groups3 and the experiences of some groups (such as older adults) may therefore have been less well represented in this research.

Some participants preferred to have an interview over the phone rather than on MS Teams. For these participants, we were unable to share the timeline that was created during the interview on screen. This meant that some participants were unable to suggest adjustments to the timeline in real time, as they did not know what it looked like, which may have reduced the detail that was captured.

References

² Nicola, K. G., Heath G, Cameron E, Rashid S, and Redwood S (2013). Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 13, 117. ³Pattinson J, and Parke A (2016). Gambling behaviour and motivation in British older adult populations: A grounded theoretical framework. Journal of Gambling Issues, 34, 55-76.

4. Participants’ journeys with adverse or severe consequences from gambling

Participants were asked about their first experiences with gambling and the range of consequences, either positive or negative, they experienced. The interviews explored how adverse consequences changed over time and which factors had contributed to their worsening or improvement. Where possible, the interviews were supported by the use of timelines to map how participants’ journeys with gambling and adverse consequences related to wider life events and external factors. This chapter explores participants’ initial experiences with gambling and gambling consequences, before exploring changes through time and the role of external factors.

4.1. Initial experiences with gambling

Participants who took part in interviews were of varying ages and life experiences and had varied experiences with gambling. Some participants had first taken part in gambling in recent years and others had experiences spanning decades. For some, their first contact with gambling was during childhood or adolescence, often starting with observing parents or other family members who gambled (and in some cases witnessing them experience adverse consequences), but also directly participating in gambling activities. This included playing cards with family and friends for money (albeit often only wagering small amounts), betting on sports and horse or dog races, or using fruit machines in arcades and other shops. Case Study 1 demonstrates the journey of one participant who had early experiences with gambling consequences due to a family member experiencing harm. This participant had positive experiences of gambling in their 20s, before first experiencing adverse impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other participants reported starting gambling later in their life (at varying points from their 20s to their 40s), in some cases linked to a desire to earn more money (for example, with increased costs related to having children) or due to the influence of friends made later in life.

TIMELINE: Case study 1

Participants described taking part in a range of different gambling activities at different points in their gambling journey. Some participants initially took part in gambling in person but then moved to online gambling, others had always gambled online, while a further group of participants opted for a mix of online and in person gambling. Similarly, participants had varied initial experiences with adverse consequences, influenced by patterns of gambling participation as well as wider life events and circumstances. The following sections detail this variety of initial adverse consequences experienced by participants.

Negative financial consequences as initial adverse experiences from gambling

A common first experience of negative consequences described by participants involved issues linked to finances. This was tied to spending more on gambling than was affordable for a certain period (ranging from months to several years). These negative consequences varied in terms of severity, from having less money for leisure activities and other personal expenses, to being unable to pay for utility bills or rent, to missing mortgage payments and becoming unhoused.

These financial consequences occurred at different points in participants’ journeys with gambling. Some participants started gambling as a fun, sometimes social, activity and did not experience any negative financial consequence for several years until one or more external factors intervened (more details on external factors are described in Section 4.3). These external factors (such as becoming unemployed or separating from their spouse) either increased the frequency of gambling and/or the amount spent or reduced their disposable income, leading to adverse consequences. Other participants reported spending more than they could afford on gambling early in their journey, and in these cases participants highlighted external factors as a catalyst for their challenges with gambling (for example, going through a difficult period of their life and using gambling as a coping mechanism or using gambling to make up for the loss of income during the COVID-19 pandemic).

Negative relationship impacts as initial adverse experiences from gambling

A group of participants reported relationship issues as their initial adverse experience from gambling. In some cases, this was tied to conflict about money spent on gambling, particularly in relationships with shared financial responsibilities (such as rent, bills, mortgages and/or the costs of raising children). Participants reported being judged negatively for their spending, even if they had gambled within their means, because of the perception that money could have been spent elsewhere. This could lead to conflict within relationships. In other cases, this linked to stigma related to gambling participation. For example, a participant described how they felt stigmatised by their daughter when she became aware of their gambling. This participant did not report any financial issues directly related to gambling but felt judged by their own daughter who had a negative opinion of gambling and often remarked that the money spent in gambling could have been used for other purposes.

4.2. Changes to gambling consequences through time

Participants described a variety of journeys with gambling consequences, often spanning many years or decades. These journeys are not linear and range from a progressive worsening of gambling consequences to journeys where a worsening was followed by improvements and to journeys where participants’ experiences with consequences changed very little over time. The types of changes described in this section were mainly caused or compounded by external factors which will be described further in Section 4.3.

Rapid changes to experiences of gambling consequences

Some participants explained that after starting gambling the frequency of their activity and/or the amount spent increased in a relatively short period of time (within the time span of a few months to 2 years). In some cases, this increase in gambling meant a diversification of activities: for example, starting with scratchcards and lottery tickets and then adding (in person or online) casinos, or betting on sports or dog or horse races. Participants associated these changes with different external factors, such as using gambling as a coping mechanism following periods of stress or mental health problems, trying to supplement their income after losing their job or as a consequence of the cost-of-living crisis, or moving to online gambling.

After rapid increases in gambling activity, participants reported experiencing negative financial consequences often alongside relationship issues and negative consequences to their mental and physical health (such as stress, anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and poor nutrition). Participants explained that seeing their situation rapidly worsen or, in some cases, cause arguments with friends or family, convinced them to stop or reduce their gambling.

Limited changes to experiences of gambling consequences over time

Another group of participants reported that their gambling activities had changed little over time. These participants took part in a wide variety of gambling activities, including betting on sports or purchasing lottery tickets and scratchcards. This group of participants were generally gambling within their means and reported negative consequences more rarely. Similar to those experiencing more rapid changes, a variety of external factors also were identified by this group of participants as having had an impact on how they gambled and the consequences they experienced. These factors included gambling only as a social activity, or taking part to ‘ fill the time’ when working from home.

Returning to gambling after previous experiences of adverse consequences

Some participants explained that their experience with gambling was characterised by a period of a few years in which they had stopped gambling followed by a return to gambling in more recent years. Some of these participants described the time before stopping as a period of more frequent gambling and higher spending and experiences of adverse consequences. This group had often stopped gambling due to significant negative impacts they had experienced (such as relationship challenges), or a more general desire to change their life which was associated with changing jobs, starting a new relationship or stopping using alcohol or drugs (as is shown by the participant’s journey in Case Study 2). For this group, starting gambling again was usually characterised by lower spending and frequency, with lower negative consequences, and by the use of strategies or tools (for example, budgeting or self-exclusion tools) to reduce the risk of experiencing significant negative consequences again.

TIMELINE: Case Study 2

4.3 External factors

During interviews, participants were invited to reflect on the external factors that had impacted their experiences with gambling participation and subsequent adverse consequences from gambling. Participants reported a range of external factors that in some cases worsened adverse consequences and in other cases mitigated or prevented them. These factors were wide ranging, and unique to each participant’s life circumstances and events, as well as broader social and economic factors. In some cases, the same external factors had a different impact on different participants, either worsening or mitigating adverse consequences. Case Study 3 shows a range of external factors (including factors related to employment, family, relationships and health) which impacted one participant’s journey.

TIMELINE: Case study 3

The following section sets out the key external factors that we have identified and discusses the ways these have impacted experiences with gambling consequences, both positively and negatively.

Employment and income

Participants described numerous ways that employment and income interrelated with their experiences of gambling consequences. Participants reported that an increase in disposable income (for example, due to career progression or becoming employed) was both a reason to take part in (or increase) gambling because of increased resources, and also a reason to gamble less (because gambling was previously used to try to supplement their low income). Similarly, a reduction in disposable income (for example, due to unemployment, retirement or divorce) or a low-paid job was also reported as an influencing factor; some reported a reduction in gambling following the reduction in income due to decreased resources, while others indicated increasing gambling participation to try to increase their income.

Childhood experiences with gambling

Participants described several ways their experiences of gambling consequences were tied to childhood experiences. In some cases, they described direct exposure to gambling as a child (such as playing card games or slot machines in arcades and other shops), stimulating interest in it for years to come. Others explained how seeing other people gambling, usually parents, had an impact on them. In some cases, this made participants more cautious about gambling and its potential consequences because of having directly observed negative consequences during childhood. Other participants instead described these experiences at a young age as having facilitated their current gambling and its negative consequences because they keep chasing the thrill and excitement they felt when observing the adults around them gamble as a child.

Relationships and social life

Participants highlighted the importance of their social relationships in shaping both their gambling participation and negative experiences. Some participants explained that at some points in their lives they had a safety net (mainly composed of family members and partners) who they could rely on if they had spent too much on gambling. Having the chance to easily borrow money or ask others to cover their bills allowed them to continue gamble more than they could afford and prevented more significant financial consequences. Similarly, having friends who also gamble was identified by participants as a key factor that increased the desire to participate in gambling activities (such as playing bingo, going to casinos, playing poker and other card games, or going to dog and horse races). However, this also decreased participants’ ability to avoid gambling. In some cases, this led participants who were trying to reduce their gambling, to also reduce the time they spent with friends or family, or stop seeing them altogether.

However, social isolation was also reported as a factor that could lead to gambling more frequently (usually online), and to the worsening of negative financial consequences. For example, one participant recounted how having to work far from home and spending several nights a week in hotels increased their gambling activities both in terms of time and money spent which led to instances of large financial losses and the inability to build up savings and spend money on other activities (such as holidays).

Changes to family life

Some participants reported how changes to family life also had an impact on their gambling participation and experiences of negative consequences. For some, having children was a reason to cut spending on gambling due to having new responsibilities and priorities. In addition to this, some participants with children felt that their caring responsibilities left them with less time to spend on gambling. Conversely, a participant described how after their children left home, they started gambling more and spending more money (due to more free time and an increased disposable income due to less money spent on their children) which was the start of them experiencing negative consequences.

Health and wellbeing

Participants described mental health problems (such as anxiety, depression or stress) as both a relevant external factor and a negative consequence of gambling, sometimes occurring in a circular reinforcing relationship. Participants experiencing mental health problems explained that gambling was for them a way to cope with depression or stress or to escape from an unsatisfying everyday life or from negative life events (such as a bereavement).

However, often the stress and sense of guilt that followed losing money from gambling negatively impacted their mental health further. Participants also highlighted wider factors such as autism (using gambling to ‘self-regulate’ when stressed or depressed), and the use of alcohol and drugs interrelating with their experiences of gambling consequences. Some participants explained that for them, drinking alcohol was associated with more impulsive choices and to the tendency to gambling more, leading them to take more risky decisions when gambling and leading to negative consequences such as larger financial losses.

Wider socio-economic factors

As well as factors related to participants’ personal lives, broader socio-political factors and events influenced how, when, and why participants had experienced certain adverse consequences from gambling. Some participants explained how COVID-19 and increased costs of living had an impact on their experience with gambling by reducing their disposable income which they subsequently tried to supplement with gambling, leading to further negative financial impacts.

Migration and moving to new areas

Other participants described how their experience of migration had impacted gambling participation. In one case, a participant explained that after migrating to the UK they struggled with money and thought that gambling could be a way to increase their income. However, this led to financial difficulties which were exacerbated by the absence of a support network of family members and friends. Conversely, another participant reported that their experience with migration had a positive impact on their gambling because moving to the UK allowed them to stop seeing friends with whom they used to gamble which in turn helped the participant stop gambling. Participants who were born in the UK and relocated to areas where events like horse races are an important part of the local life also reported changes to their gambling participation (betting on races as part of local events) and increased expenditure.

Factors related to the gambling market

Participants also discussed factors related to the gambling market which influenced their experiences with gambling consequences. Some participants, particularly those who had taken part in gambling for multiple decades, found that the introduction of online gambling had made it easier to gamble and to spend money. These participants felt that online gambling was more convenient and allowed them to gamble at any time, and anywhere. In comparison, participants described how gambling in-person was limited by opening times, having to go to a specific place, and the greater time required to place a bet or buy a ticket or scratchcard.

Participants also highlighted that advertising and marketing, especially the widespread availability of adverts related to gambling, had an impact on gambling participation, especially on those trying to reduce their gambling. Some participants described how when they were teenagers and saw advertising and newspapers articles about the National Lottery which made them feel like everyone was taking part in gambling. Other participants reported feeling like the advertising of gambling products was difficult to avoid, leading them to gamble more frequently. One participant described how being targeted with specific marketing techniques (such as ‘free spins’, a promotional offer where a certain number of attempts are free) resulted in them spending more despite their desire to save money.

There was also variation in experiences based on participants’ ages. One participant remarked that with the current age limitations they would have never been able to start gambling at a very young age, as they did in the 1970s. Another participant explained that the recent introduction of limits on the number of scratchcards4 that can be purchased in the same transaction is reducing their drive to gamble.

The interrelation of multiple external factors

Interviews showed that these external factors do not act in isolation but are often linked to one or more other factors (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic leading to changes in employment and income and also changes in patterns of socialisation). In many cases, external factors cannot be considered in isolation given their close interconnection. For example, a participant discussed how an increase in their gambling activity with bigger financial losses than usual was linked to them being made redundant. The participant received a large sum of money for their redundancy but also increased their consumption of alcohol as a way to cope with the stress of losing their job. The combination of having a larger than usual sum of money available and of alcohol consumption led to bigger losses than usual.  

References

⁴ The limit was introduced on 1 October 2024: https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/games/gamestore/scratchcards

7. Conclusion and recommendations

This qualitative research involved follow-up interviews with participants who took part in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB). The research sought to explore experiences with adverse consequences (identified through the survey) in greater depth and identified the following:

• journeys with gambling consequences are complex and influenced by a wide range of external factors which include factors related to individuals (such as childhood experiences, employment, social networks, and health), wider social and political factors (such as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs of living), and factors related to the gambling industry (such as the types of gambling offered and advertising)
• first experiences with gambling are often (but not always) positive, with adverse consequences often developing over time and some participants experiencing them more quickly than others. This was particularly the case when a distressing life event (such as bereavement or the loss of a job) led to increased gambling frequency as a ‘coping mechanism’. However, the relationship between positive and negative consequences was not linear and while in some cases positive consequences preceded negative ones, and created the conditions for their emergence by encouraging an increase in gambling participation, in other cases they occurred in parallel. The research identified variation in participants’ first experiences with adverse consequences. Often financial consequences were experienced first which led to subsequent impacts on mental health or relationships. However, in other cases, relationship consequences were experienced first, for example, conflict with friends and family stemming from stigma surrounding gambling participation
• there are complex interactions between different adverse consequences as well as external factors. Participants described a range of ways that harms interrelated, including one consequence leading to another (such as financial consequences leading to relationship consequences), consequences taking place simultaneously, and circular or reinforcing relationships between gambling consequences
• participants took varied approaches to reduce or prevent adverse consequences from gambling. This included personal budgeting techniques to reduce financial consequences, the use of apps or banks to block gambling participation and using deposit limit tools offered by gambling operators. Interviews also highlighted the importance of support networks for reducing negative consequences related to gambling.

Recommendations for reducing gambling consequences

This research has shown that journeys with gambling consequences are complex and influenced by a range of external factors which are often unpredictable. Interventions aiming to address gambling harms should consider that gambling consequences can occur at any point in someone’s journey with gambling. This may be very soon after starting gambling or decades into gambling experiences. This research has also shown complex interactions between different adverse consequences. Interventions to support those experiencing gambling harm will likely need to be targeted or flexible, to support those experiencing varying types of harm and have the ability to provide holistic support (for example, supporting with financial impacts as well as relationship impacts). Participants highlighted how tools provided by gambling operators (such as deposit limits) could be helpful, particularly for reducing adverse consequences related to finances. However, this research also identified issues related to trust in these tools (as they were provided by the gambling industry who were perceived to primarily have commercial interests). Building full trust in support options available will be key to supporting those who experienced adverse consequences to access help.

Recommendations for future research

This research has added to the evidence base for several of the Gambling Commission’s Evidence gaps and priorities for 2023 to 2026. This includes Evidence Theme 1 (early gambling experiences and gateway products), Evidence Theme 2 (the range and variability of gambling experiences), and Evidence Theme 3 (gambling-related harms and vulnerability). The following recommendations for areas of further exploration would continue to develop the evidence base in these 3 priority areas:

1. This research identified that gambling consequences are interrelated, often long-term and hard to disentangle from people’s individual life circumstances. This emphasises the importance of continued qualitative research to give depth to quantitative findings about adverse gambling consequences. The journeys explored in this report identified the significance of life events for experiences of gambling consequences which could be explored in further qualitative work. This includes starting, changing and ending employment (for example, through retirement or redundancy) and changes to households (for example, having children or children leaving home) or relocating (for example, moving house).
2. The importance of these life events and stages could be further explored using existing GSGB data on potentially adverse and severe consequences from gambling. This data could be analysed in relation to variables on age, employment, health and wellbeing, and specific factors like retirement. This research identified that the first adverse consequences experienced by participants were often financial or relationship consequences, which then led to further (often different) adverse consequences. There would also be benefit in exploring these consequences longitudinally using quantitative data to explore changes to adverse consequences through time, and attempt to identify which key life events may increase the risk of experiencing adverse consequences.
3. Future research in this area should involve co-production with those with lived experience. Working alongside the Commission’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) in this research was essential to ensuring that the research was accessible and inclusive, did not cause psychological harm to those taking part, and covered a wide range of relevant areas.

Appendix A - Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling

Topic guide summary

Introductions and background (10 minutes)

• participant introduction
• brief overview of gambling activity.

Experiences of consequences from gambling (20 minutes)

• participant experiences of gambling (positive and negative)
• timeline of participants experiences of gambling consequences
• wider factors that contributed to negative experiences (such employment, income, or factors related to family and friends)
• participant’s experiences of adverse consequences
• participant’s experiences in the last year since completing the survey.

Relationship between gambling consequences (15 minutes)

• whether consequences experienced are related to each other
• factors that drive the order in which harms were experienced.

Preventing and reducing adverse consequences (10 minutes)

• awareness of support for gambling harms
• experiences of accessing formal or informal support for adverse consequences
• reasons for not accessing support (if applicable).

Interview close (5 minutes)

• final closing comments.