EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Pathways and transitions of gamblers over two years

Christelle Luce, Louise Nadeau and Sylvia Kairouz

International Gambling Studies, 2016, vol. 16, issue 3, 357-372

Abstract: Moderate-risk and problem gamblers represent 1.4% and 0.4% of the Québec population, respectively. Research on gamblers’ trajectories has been hampered by methodological shortcomings leading to heterogeneous results. The present research was conducted in the Province of Québec with a representative sample of adult gamblers and aims to explore how gamblers change over time according to the severity of their gambling problems. Using a 2-year follow-up prospective design (3 waves), 179 gamblers selected from a representative survey were divided into the 4 PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) categories. Beyond the decreasing trend in PGSI scores detected within the overall sample using a linear growth model, our analyses revealed that moderate-risk gamblers are heterogeneous in their composition and evolution, comprising stable moderate-risk, recent cases and former problem gamblers. Over three waves, one-third of moderate-risk gamblers improved, one-third remained stable and one-third became problem gamblers. The subgroups transitioning in and out of the moderate-risk category differed in terms of reported changes in gambling behaviours and consequences. Problem gamblers remain vulnerable over time, being at risk of experiencing chronic problems. Results highlight the necessity of subgroup-specific prevention programmes and treatment services that address both the non-linearity of risky gambling and the chronicity of problem gambling.

Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14459795.2016.1209780 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:intgms:v:16:y:2016:i:3:p:357-372

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RIGS20

DOI: 10.1080/14459795.2016.1209780

Access Statistics for this article

International Gambling Studies is currently edited by Katie Donnelly, David Marshall, Bronwyn Stuart, Alex Blaszczynski and Jan McMillen

More articles in International Gambling Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-20
Handle: RePEc:taf:intgms:v:16:y:2016:i:3:p:357-372