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Report

Exploring the relationship between gambling activities and Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores

This report explores the relationship between participation in individual gambling activities in the past 12 months and Problem Gambling Severity Index Scores (PGSI).

  1. Contents
  2. Definitions

Definitions

Past 12 months gambling

Participants were provided with a list of 18 types of gambling legally available in Great Britain and asked which of these activities they had participated in, in the past 12 months. They were also asked about any private betting or gambling they may have done in the same period. Participants who answered yes to participating in one or more gambling activity are described in this report as participating in gambling in the past 12 months.

Number of activities

The number of discrete gambling activities was calculated for those who had participated in a gambling activity in the past 12 months. Participants who had not participated in any gambling activity in the past 12 months were coded as not having taken part in any activities.

Frequency of gambling

Everyone who had gambled on a particular activity in the past 12 months was then asked to report how often, if at all, they had gambled on this activity in the past 4 weeks. Using this information, frequency of gambling was computed for each participant based on their reported highest frequency of gambling to any activity in the past 4 weeks. For example, if a participant reported purchasing National Lottery tickets once a week but bet on sports events a few times a week, they were categorised as gambling a few times a week. Response categories were: everyday, a few times a week, about once a week, about once a fortnight, about once in the past 4 weeks, and less often than this (that is those who had gambled in the past 12 months, but not in the past four weeks).

Full list of gambling activities

The list of gambling activities presented to participants was refined and tested during the development stages of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB). The aim was to update the list used in previous surveys to better represent forms of commercial gambling currently available in Great Britain, and to better capture engagement in different online gambling formats. Appendix A shows the full list of gambling activities asked about for the past 12 months.

Problem Gambling Severity Index

The PGSI consists of nine questions and is asked of everyone who had gambled in the past 12 months, capturing the current experience of each of these items. Answer options were ‘almost always’, ‘most of the time’, ‘sometimes’, and ‘never’. Responses to the nine questions are summed and a score ranging between 0 and 27 is computed. Scores are grouped into the following categories1:

PGSI score 0

Representing a person who gambles (including heavily) but who does not report experiencing any of the nine symptoms or adverse consequences asked about. In population prevalence analysis, participants who had not gambled in the past 12 months are also given a PGSI score of 0.

PGSI score 1 to 2

Representing low risk gambling by which a person is unlikely to have experienced any adverse consequences from gambling but may be at risk if they are heavily involved in gambling.

PGSI score 3 to 7

Representing moderate risk gambling by which a person may or may not have experienced adverse consequences from gambling but may be at risk if they are heavily involved in gambling.

PGSI score 8 or higher

Representing problem gambling by which a person will have experienced adverse consequences from their gambling and may have lost control of their behaviour. Involvement in gambling can be at any level, but is likely to be heavy.

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PGSI Report - Key Findings
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PGSI Report - Introduction
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