Report
Understanding the adverse consequences of gambling: the role of gambling activity
The Gambling Commission's report on gambling activity and demographic differences in risk of adverse consequences.
Background
One of the Gambling Commission’s key evidence priorities is to build our understanding of how gambling harms are experienced and who is most at risk. To help achieve this, we developed a set of survey questions, within the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), that measure a range of adverse consequences from gambling. These consequences are grouped into 2 categories:
- Potential adverse consequences, which vary in severity and often have cumulative effects. Examples include cutting back on everyday spending and experiencing conflict with family
- Severe consequences, which are unequivocally harmful. For example, relationship breakdown and crime.
Previous analysis of GSGB data showed that adverse consequences from gambling were most prevalent among males, younger participants, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those living in lower income households. In this report, we explored whether the increased susceptibility to adverse consequences in these higher-risk groups can be explained by differences in the types of gambling activities that they play.
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Method - Adverse consequences
Last updated: 6 July 2026
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