Report
Gambling Survey for Great Britain - Annual report (2023): Official statistics
Gambling Survey for Great Britain - annual report (2023): Official statistics
Problem Gambling Severity Index
This section cross refers to information that can be found in an accompanying set of data tables, specifically Tables D.1 to D.16.
Definitions
The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) consists of 9 items which measure both behavioural symptoms of gambling disorder and certain adverse consequences from gambling.
PGSI items
The 9 PGSI items are:
- bet more than you can really afford to lose
- needing to gamble with larger amounts of money to get the same excitement
- gone back to try to win back money you had lost
- borrowed money or sold anything to get money to gamble
- felt you might have a problem with gambling
- felt gambling has caused you any health problems, including stress and anxiety
- people have criticised your betting or told you that you have a gambling problem, whether or not you thought it was true
- felt your gambling has caused financial problems for you or your household
- felt guilty about the way you gamble or what happens when you gamble.
The PGSI 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’, ‘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 does not report experiencing any of the 9 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.
The PGSI categories represent a continuum of risk, ranging from those experiencing no adverse consequences or behavioural symptoms of disorder to those experiencing both. Looking at the profile of those with a PGSI score of 1 to 2 or 3 to 7 is important as research shows that people with these scores are significantly more likely than those with a PGSI score of 0 to experience escalating adverse consequences from gambling2.
Estimates in tables D.1 to D.16 are shown to one decimal place (rather than no decimal places as in other tables) due to the low prevalence of some items.
Responses to individual PGSI questions
Findings in this section are based on all participants. Overall, chasing losses (that is, going back to try to win back money you had lost) was the most common experience reported by both male and female participants (12.1 percent of males and 7.3 percent of females reported this at least sometimes). This was followed by feeling guilty about what happens when you gamble (7.6 percent of males and 4.4 percent of females reported at least sometimes) and betting more than you could afford to lose (6.9 percent of males and 4.8 percent of females reported at least sometimes)(Table D.1). For both male and female participants, borrowing money to fund gambling was the least common behaviour (2.3 percent of males and 1.7 percent of females reported this at least sometimes). Except for borrowing money to fund gambling, male participants were more likely than female participants to report experiencing each of the PGSI items.
As shown in Figure 12 and Figure 13, these patterns were replicated when looking at responses to the PGSI items among those who had gambled in the past 12 months.
Figure 12: Experience of PGSI items at least sometimes among those who had gambled in the past 12 months
Base: Adults aged 18 and over who had gambled in the last 12 months (5,828 unweighted)
| PGSI item | All participants gambled in past 12 months (percentage) |
|---|---|
| Gone back to win lost money | 16% |
| Felt guilty about your gambling | 9.9% |
| Bet more than can you afford | 9.6% |
| Felt gambling has caused you health problems | 6.7% |
| Gambled with large amounts of money to feel excitement | 6.4% |
| Felt you might have a problem with gambling | 6.4% |
| Been criticised for your betting or told you have a gambling problem | 6.1% |
| Felt your gambling has caused financial problems | 5.6% |
| Borrowed money or sold anything for gambling | 3.3% |
Figure 13: Experience of PGSI items at least sometimes, among those who had gambled in the last 12 months, by sex
Base: Adults aged 18 and over who had gambled in the last 12 months (5,828 unweighted)
| PGSI item | Male (percentage) | Female (percentage) |
|---|---|---|
| Gone back to win lost money | 19.3% | 12.6% |
| Felt guilty about your gambling | 12.1% | 7.6% |
| Bet more than can you afford | 11% | 8.3% |
| Felt you might have a problem with gambling | 8.6% | 4.2% |
| Been criticised for your betting or told you have a gambling problem | 8.5% | 3.7% |
| Gambled with large amounts of money to feel excitement | 8.3% | 4.5% |
| Felt gambling has caused you health problems | 8.1% | 5.3% |
| Felt your gambling has caused financial problems | 6.5% | 4.7% |
| Borrowed money or sold anything for gambling | 3.7% | 2.9% |
PGSI scores and PGSI groups: population prevalence
PGSI scores
PGSI scores range from 0 to 27. Looking first at scores among all participants including those who did not gamble (and who are assigned a PGSI score of 0), 85.6 percent of participants had a PGSI score of 0 and 14.4 percent of participants had a PGSI score of 1 or more. Where participants had a PGSI score of 1 or more, most tended to be between 1 and 3 (9.6 percent) though some people had very high PGSI scores: 0.3 percent of all participants had PGSI scores of 20 or more (Table D.2).
PGSI groups
For all participants, including those who had not gambled, 8.3 percent had a PGSI score of 1 to 2, 3.7 percent had a PGSI score of 3 to 7 and 2.5 percent had a PGSI score of 8 or more (Table D.3).
Male participants (9.5 percent) were more likely than female participants (7.1 percent) to have a PGSI score of 1 to 2. The same pattern was evident for a PGSI score of 3 to 7, where estimates were 4.9 percent for males and 2.5 percent for females. Males (3.2 percent) also were more likely than females (1.8 percent) to have a PGSI score of 8 or more.
Those aged 18 to 34 were more likely than older groups to have a PGSI score of 3 to 7 or 8 or more. Rates of having a PGSI score of 8 or more were highest among those aged 25 to 34 (5.2 percent) and declined with age to 0.2 percent of those aged 75 and over. The proportion of participants with a PGSI score of 3 to 7 was highest among those aged 18 to 24 (6.9 percent) and decreased with age to 0.9 percent of those aged 75 and over. Similar patterns were observed when only looking at those who had gambled in the past 12 months.
Both patterns, whereby PGSI scores were higher among male than female participants and higher among younger than older age groups, are in line with findings from previous studies such as the BGPS 2010.
PGSI by gambling group and activity type
Focus on population prevalence rates (as presented above) masks the strength of associations between gambling and PGSI scores because they include people who do not gamble or gamble very infrequently. It is thus important to look at PGSI scores among people who engage in different types of gambling to better understand the scope and scale of these associations (Table D.4).
Among those who had gambled on any gambling activity in the past 12 months, 13.7 percent had a PGSI score of 1 to 2, 6.1 percent had a PGSI score of 3 to 7 and 4.1 percent had a PGSI score of 8 or more. Rates were higher among those who had gambled on activities other than lottery draws alone (PGSI 1 to 2: 17.8 percent; PGSI 3 to 7: 8.3 percent, and PGSI 8 or more: 5.9 percent). For each PGSI group, that is scores 1 to 2, 3 to 7 and 8 or more, rates were higher among male than female participants, and typically were higher among those aged 18 to 34, declining with age.
Figure 14: PGSI distribution of score categories, by gambling participation
Base: Adults aged 18 and over (9,707 unweighted)
| PGSI score | All participants (percentage) | All participants who had gambled in the past 12 months (percentage) | All participants who had gambled in the past 12 months excluding lottery draw only products (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGSI score 0 | 85.6% | 76.1% | 67.9% |
| PGSI score 1 or 2 | 8.3% | 13.7% | 17.8% |
| PGSI score 3 to 7 | 3.7% | 6.1% | 8.3% |
| PGSI score 8 or more | 2.5% | 4.1% | 5.9% |
Figure 15: PGSI distribution of score categories for those who gambled in the past 12 months, by sex
Base: Adults aged 18 and over who had gambled in the last 12 months (5,865 unweighted)
| PGSI score | Male (percentage) | Female (percentage) | All adults (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGSI score 0 | 72.0% | 80.4% | 76.1% |
| PGSI score 1 or 2 | 15.1% | 12.2% | 13.7% |
| PGSI score 3 to 7 | 7.8% | 4.3% | 6.1% |
| PGSI score 8 or more | 5.1% | 3.1% | 4.1% |
Figure 16: PGSI distribution of score categories for those who gambled in the past 12 months, by age group
Base: Adults aged 18 and over who had gambled in the last 12 months (5,865 unweighted)
| PGSI score | 18 to 24 (percentage) | 25 to 34 (percentage) | 35 to 44 (percentage) | 45 to 54 (percentage) | 55 to 64 (percentage) | 65 to 74 (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PGSI score 0 | 60.4% | 63.4% | 69.8% | 77.0% | 85.3% | 89.5% |
| PGSI score 1 or 2 | 17.4% | 18.9% | 18.6% | 13.6% | 10.4% | 7.0% |
| PGSI score 3 to 7 | 13.1% | 9.3% | 6.7% | 6.0% | 3.5% | 2.2% |
| PGSI score 8 or more> | 9.1% | 8.4% | 4.9% | 3.5% | 0.7% | 1.3% |
Looking at PGSI scores among those who gambled on specific activities is also informative to determine the strength of the association between higher PGSI scores and certain types of gambling products. Because PGSI scores may be over stated, rather than looking at the percent of people with a PGSI score of 8 or more by activity (for example), we instead look at whether PGSI scores by gambling activity were higher or lower than the average for all people who had gambled in the past 12 months (Table D.5).
For example, 4.1 percent of participants who had gambled on any activity in the past 12 months had a PGSI score of 8 or more. By comparison, 8.6 percent of those who had bet online on sports and racing had a PGSI score of 8 or more. Dividing 8.6 (the estimate for sports betting) by 4.1 (the average for people gambling on all activities) shows that the proportion of people with a PGSI score of 8 or more was 2 times higher among those who had bet online on sports and racing than the average for all people who had gambled in the past 12 months. Examining data this way allows additional risk associated with different products and patterns of risk across products to be examined.
Estimates in the remainder of this section are presented as relative differences only, with no prevalence figures (percentages). A relative difference of 1 means that the prevalence for that activity is the same as the average for all people who had gambled. A relative difference higher than 1 means the prevalence for that activity is higher than average and a relative difference less than 1 means the prevalence for that activity is lower than average.
Figure 17: Relative difference between activities in proportion with PGSI score of 8 or more, compared with overall proportion with PGSI score of 8 or more
Base: Adults aged 18 and over who had gambled in the last 12 months (5,865 unweighted)
| Gambling activity in the past 12 months | All participants: Gambled in the past 12 months (relative difference ratio) |
|---|---|
| Betting on non-sports events (in-person) | 9.7 |
| Online fruit and slots | 5.9 |
| Casino games on a machine or terminal | 5.3 |
| Casino games at a casino | 5.2 |
| Online casino games | 5.1 |
| Betting on non-sports events (online) | 5.0 |
| Non National Lottery online instant wins | 4.7 |
| Online bingo | 4.7 |
| Football pools | 4.5 |
| Fruit or slots machines | 3.6 |
| Non National Lottery scratchcards | 3.4 |
| Betting on sports or races in person | 3.1 |
| Online betting on sports or races | 2.1 |
| National Lottery online instant wins | 1.9 |
| Bingo in-person | 1.9 |
| Private betting | 1.9 |
| National Lottery scratchcards | 1.8 |
| Charity lottery draws | 1.1 |
| National Lottery draws | 0.9 |
For those buying tickets for National Lottery draws, the proportion with a PGSI score of 8 or more was similar to the average for all people who had gambled in the last 12 months.
For the following activities, the proportions of those with a PGSI score of 8 or more were 2 to 3 times higher than average: scratchcards; private betting; National Lottery online instant wins; bingo played at a venue; online betting on sports or races; betting on sports or races at a venue.
Among those playing fruit and slots machines, online bingo, betting on non-sports events online, football pools, and online casino games, casino games at a casino, casino games played on a machine or terminal and non-National Lottery online instant wins, the proportion with a PGSI score of 8 or more was between 4 to 5 times higher than average.
Finally, both online slots and betting in-person on non-sport events had substantially higher than average proportions of people with a PGSI score of 8 or more. For online slots, rates were nearly 6 times higher than average and for betting on non-sports events in person, they were over 9 times higher than average.
Patterns of relative difference among those with a PGSI score of 3 to 7 by activity were similar: people who gambled on lotteries were less likely than average to have a PGSI score of 3 to 7, whereas those playing casino games on a machine or terminal, gambling on bingo online, betting on non-sports events in person, playing online slots or online casino games were around three times more likely than average to have a PGSI score of 3 to 7.
Taking results for PGSI scores of 3 to 7 and 8 or more together shows a high relative difference ratio for people gambling on online bingo, slots and casino games, casino games played on a machine or terminal and betting on non-sports events.
References
1These definitions broadly mirror those originally used by Ferris & Wynne. However, some adaptation is necessary because the original definitions draw on items from the broader Canadian Problem Gambling Index, of which the PGSI is a subset and the exact same questions have not been used in the prior BPGS or HS series and in the GSGB.
2 Soumi et al. (2024)(opens new tab), Kruse et al. (2016) (opens new tab), Wardle et al. (2017) (opens new tab)
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Last updated: 25 July 2024
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