Report
Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling
Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling: follow-up interviews with participants from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain
Contents
- Executive summary
- 1 - Introduction
- 2 - Methodology
- 3 - Overview of impacts of gambling on participants
- 4 - Participants’ journeys with adverse or severe consequences from gambling
- 5 - Interrelation of different adverse or severe consequences from gambling
- 6 - Preventing and reducing consequences
- 7 - Conclusion and recommendations
- Appendix A - Qualitative research on the consequences of gambling
6 - Preventing and reducing consequences
Participants were asked about measures and practices they had used to prevent or reduce adverse consequences related to gambling. These measures and practices were used at different times during participants’ journeys, and generally adopted after (rather than before) participants experienced some form of adverse consequence. As described in Chapter 4, at the time of the interview, some participants had stopped or reduced gambling, or had returned to gambling after a relatively long pause but with a more moderate intensity of participation. In some cases, stopping or reducing gambling had involved external support (from tools, support services or informal support), and in other cases participants had used their own techniques. These approaches followed no clear pattern (for example, following a specific type of consequence or happening at a specific point in participants’ journeys) and were instead intertwined with participants’ unique (and complex) experiences with gambling. As set out in Section 6.2, some participants reported having used formal support tools and services, while others described being supported informally by friends and family or using personal measures to reduce gambling. This chapter opens with a description of participants’ awareness of support tools and services, then moves to the participants’ experiences of measures and practices to prevent and reduce consequences and closes with a short section on barriers to accessing support to provide some further context.
6.1. Awareness of support tools and services
Participants had a mixed level of awareness of gambling support tools and services. This ranged from no awareness at all to awareness of multiple support tools (such as self-exclusion tools or deposit limits) and services (for example helplines or charities providing support)), and how to access them. Participants who were aware of support gained this knowledge either passively by being informed by others, or actively by seeking out support themselves.
Passive awareness
Participants reported being made aware of support tools and services either by word of mouth, from family or friends who had experienced adverse consequences themselves, or by gambling operators while taking part in gambling activities. When signing up to gambling apps or websites, participants were signposted to various support services and tools. They also reported receiving emails from gambling operators that expressed concern for time or money spent gambling and signposted to available services and tools. Other participants received adverts for support services on gambling apps and websites, or saw helplines printed on the back of scratch cards.
‘Loads of adverts pop up saying get help, if you need to talk. There's loads of support out there for people.’
– Male participant aged 35 to 44 years
Active Awareness
Other participants gained knowledge of support tools and services through seeking out information themselves. In general, this was when they were experiencing adverse consequences and felt they may need support. Mostly, participants, including those who were not aware of specific support services, felt confident in their ability to find information about support tools and services online.
‘There is so much out there for people if they do need help […] I'm very aware there are organisations of help out there.’
– Male participant aged 45 to 54 years
6.2. Experiences of measures and practices to prevent and reduce consequences
Participants had varied experiences of accessing support, ranging from accessing multiple forms of support (both since completing the survey and previously), to not accessing any. Participants who had accessed support through gambling operator websites described largely positive experiences using self-help tools. Describing how those tools helped them mitigate or avoid adverse consequences from gambling.
Self-help tools and services offered by gambling operators that were used by participants included setting deposit and time limits and using self-exclusion tools on gambling apps and websites. These were found to be straightforward and easy to use, with multiple methods to enable them, such as changing account settings, using a live chat function, or through services like GamBlock. Participants who used these tools typically experienced negative financial, relationship and mental health consequences from their gambling. These tools could reduce the amount of money and time they spent gambling, reducing financial consequences and allowing for more quality time spent with friends and family, and consequently improving their relationships and wellbeing. Case Study 4 shows a participant who used deposit limits and self-exclusion tools through gambling websites after experiencing negative financial and wellbeing impacts related to gambling. These tools supported them to reduce their frequency of gambling and subsequently reduce adverse consequences.
‘I think it's a realisation, oh, okay actually maybe I am spending a bit too much time on this site. Then they unfreeze your account [after a temporary short-term block], which to me that's a good tool to have because if that wasn't in place I think people would then tend to just keep going...’
– Female participant aged 25 to 34 years
Case Study 4: Martha, female participant aged 25 to 34
From an early age, Martha was aware of gambling through family members who participated in it. She had her first experience of taking part in gambling in her early 20s, playing bingo online a few times a week. Martha’s previous relationship influenced how often she gambled; her partner was often out, leaving her at home to look after the children. This was a source of stress for Martha, but it also gave her some spare time when she was alone. Martha started gambling on online casinos to cope with this stress, facilitated by having spare time to take part. Gambling on online casinos led to Martha experiencing more financial losses from gambling. This led to anxiety over losing money, and stress from trying to win it back. Increased family expenses (such as rent and children expenses) also reduced the amount of disposable income she had available for gambling. These financial and mental health challenges prompted her to set deposit limits on gambling websites and she implemented a ‘cooling off period’ (using a tool offered by some operators that blocks the access to one or more gambling websites) around a year ago. She is now gambling less frequently and is experiencing reduced stress and anxiety.
Timeline for Case Study 4: Martha, female participant aged 25-34
Timeline for case study 4.
Age
Experiences with gambling and gambling consequences
Age 24
External Factor: Early exposure to gambling consequences from family members
Age 26
External Factor: Relationship affected frequency of gambling because partner often left her at home alone to care for the children. This increased her stress which led to increased gambling as a coping mechanism
Age 28
External Factor: Mental health problems contributed to increase (and subsequent reduction) in gambling
Age 29
External Factor: Continued mental health problems contributed to increase (and subsequent reduction) in gambling
Age 30
External Factor: Increasing expenses for rent and childcare - less disposable income available leading to a reduction in gambling
Age 31
External Factor: Continued increase in expenses for rent and childcare - less disposable income available leading to a reduction in gambling
‘One thing that I do find quite useful is playing games on my phone, where you don't have to bet money, so you just play for fun. Different games, like you can get a fruit machine game that you can play. The same kind of excitement and thrill, but without having to spend money.’
– Male participant aged 45 to 54 years
Participants also mentioned wider forms of support such as support from family and friends, which they had received when experiencing adverse consequences from gambling. This included staying with family if encountering housing difficulties due to their gambling or receiving advice for how to improve experiences of gambling consequences. Additionally, participants described watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts which discussed addiction. Participants also reported accessing more formal support for challenges related to gambling, such as Gamblers Anonymous meetings, and therapy. These methods were helpful for understanding their experiences with gambling and trying to prevent future experiences of adverse consequences.
6.3. Barriers to accessing support
Participants reported a wide range of barriers to accessing support for adverse consequences from gambling. A common view from participants was that their experiences with negative consequences from gambling were not severe enough to qualify needing support. Others felt that to seek out support was to admit a failure in allowing their gambling to negatively impact their lives. Related to this was the issue of stigma. Participants highlighted feelings of embarrassment and shame due to gambling. These feelings and experiences acted as a barrier to accessing support, such as reaching out to their support network, group therapy sessions or Gamblers Anonymous.
‘It's quite embarrassing to have to admit how bad of a position you're in. I'm going to be honest, at the time when you're doing it, you don't really feel anything, but afterwards you do feel quite remorseful and quite shameful. Then having to explain to the people that are closest to you is quite - in your mind, it's quite a daunting task. It is embarrassing to have to admit’
– Male participant aged 18 to 34 years
Other barriers described by participants were a lack of awareness of the kinds of support available and lack of trust in support tools, specifically those offered by gambling operators. Participants expressed scepticism about how trustworthy and effective tools offered by the gambling industry would be in supporting people, due to the feeling that they are implemented only ‘as a PR exercise’ or the perception of the industry benefitting from people gambling therefore not being really interested in helping them stop.
‘'Well, we've got these tools and they're there to help you.' But I think indirectly they probably know that the actual participant will carry on doing it or even put some more into - put some more funds into the gambling. So, I don't trust a lot of these so-called tools.’
– Male participant aged over 55 years
5. Interrelation of different adverse or severe consequences from gambling Next section
7. Conclusion and recommendations
Last updated: 8 May 2025
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