Report
Lived experiences of affected others: Qualitative research
Lived experiences of affected others: Qualitative research
Non-gambling affected others
Of the 25 participants in this research, 14 did not gamble at all. The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB)(2024) shows that 37 percent of affected others report not gambling themselves. Their reasons for not gambling were varied, but several themes emerged.
Some described a wariness about their own susceptibility, particularly where they had grown up around or lived alongside entrenched gambling behaviour. Others distanced themselves on moral or emotional grounds, rejecting gambling as something they now associate with harm.
Others simply described never having felt any urge to gamble, which in some cases made it harder to understand the person gambling’s behaviour. For this last group in particular, the gap between their own experience and the person gambling’s could be bewildering as well as distressing.
"I just don't want to do it [gamble] because I think I've got such a negative attachment with money that has always been spent so frivolously... I don't drink, I don't gamble. And I think, well, I know it's because of him."
- Female non-gambler, 43, daughter of person gambling
This group is notable from a support perspective. The GSGB (2024) shows non-gambling affected others are significantly less likely to seek support than those who gamble themselves – 7.7 percent compared to 18.3 percent. This research suggests those with no personal relationship to gambling may have fewer natural entry points into gambling-related services, and may be less likely to encounter information about support that exists for people in their position.
Last updated: 25 June 2026
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