Updating Problem Gambling Prevalence in Italy

Transcription

1 Updating Problem Gambling Prevalence in Italy 9th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues Loutraki, September September 2012 Part of the results of this study are discussed in: Barbaranelli, C., Vecchione, M., Fida, R., Podio-Guidugli, S. (in press). Estimating the prevalence of adult problem gambling in Italy with SOGS and PGSI. Journal of Gambling Issues. Claudio Barbaranelli, Ph.D. Sapienza University of Rome Department of Psychology Via dei Marsi 78, Rome, Italy 1

2 Prevalence of Problem Gambling in Italy * Aim of the study * Methodology Overview * Prevalence of adult Problem Gambling in Italy * Characteristics of Italian problem gamblers * Correlates of Problem Gambling: protective and risk factors for Problem Gambling * Conclusions 2

3 The 2010 Study This study is a second step in the assessment of Problem Gambling on representative samples of the Italian gambling population A previous study conducted in 2008 found that 1.27% of adult Italians were problem gamblers The aim of this new study is to examine the trend in prevalence of Problem Gambling: a) on a new overall sample of gamblers, with the same characteristics as those studied in 2008 b) on a specific sample of online gamblers We used these samples to examine also the distinctive characteristics of problem gamblers and the most significant protection and risk factors for Problem Gambling 3

4 Research Methodology Samples 2000 subjects representative of the total population of adult Italian gamblers (18-74 years), Italians who gambled at least once for money in the last 12 months 1000 subjects representative of the sub-population of adult Italian gamblers (18-74 years), who gambled online for money at least once in the last 3 months Quota sampling, balanced by geographic area, size of city, age, gender. Self-Report Questionnaire (Overall), CAWI (Online) 4

5 Research Methodology Differences between the two samples Gender: Overall 55% Male, Online 81% Male Average age: Overall 45 years (sd = 15), Online 36 years (sd = 11) Education: Overall 9% graduates, 33% high school, 40% junior high school, 18% elementary school. Online 19% graduates, 51% high school, 29% junior high school, 1% elementary school education. Marital Status: Overall 28% single, 61% married Online 52% single, 41% married Occupation: Overall 13% housewives, 4% students, 16% retired Online 3% housewives, 10% students, 4% retired 5

6 Prevalence Estimates: How Many Problem Gamblers in Italy 6

7 Screening of Problem Gambling Two different validated instruments have been used to assess the prevalence of Problem Gambling: South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) Why? They overlap only partially, thus evidencing different aspects of Problem Gambling Two instruments may reduce the risk of misclassification 7

8 Classification of Subjects Following these premises: a) SS were firstly classified according to the criteria of SOGS and PGSI (using cut-off scores derived from literature) b) These two classifications were crossed to get a more precise estimate of adult problem gamblers 8

9 How Many Problem Gamblers? Estimates for the overall sample Estimate based on the total population of Italian adults (18-74 years) in % (2008 results: 1.27%) Estimate based on the total population of adult gamblers in % These estimates are in line with the results of international research 9

10 How Many Problem Gamblers? Estimate for the online sample Estimate based on the total population of Italian adults Internet users (with internet access in the last 3 months) 0.7% Estimate based on the sub-population of adult Italian gamblers gaming online for money in the last 3 months 9.7% 10

11 Characteristics of Italian Problem Gamblers 12

12 Identikit of the Problem Gambler Overall and Online problem gamblers: - are more frequently male (overall = 78%, on-line = 82%) - started to gamble at a younger age (overall = 24, online = 21) - have one or both parents with gambling problems (overall = 31%, online = 52%) - have difficulty in managing money and are exposed to a higher risk of over-indebtedness 13

13 Identikit of the Problem Gambler Overall and Online problem gamblers: - play multiple games in lifetime (overall = 8, online = 20), and in past year (overall = 5, online = 15) - are not interested in only one game - play more frequently, dedicate more time to gambling (about 1 hour per day) - spend more money on gambling 14

14 Identikit of the Problem Gambler Overall and Online problem gamblers: - Are more motivated to gamble for symbolic, economic and hedonistic motives - Have higher erroneous beliefs in their chances of winning, and in controlling the outcome of the game - Have lower self-efficacy, self-esteem and lifesatisfaction - Are more impulsive (lower self-control) - Are more prone to take risk and to appreciate risk 15

15 Protective and Risk Factors for Problem Gambling 16

16 Protective and Risk factors for PG Many of the risk and protective factors for PG were inter-correlated: so they tend to overlap in the explanation of problem gambling Then, a Structural Equation Modeling approach has been adopted to investigate the unique impact of risk and protective factors over problem gambling The final model presented here incorporates only those variables who resulted significant correlates of PG, a latent variable measured by SOGS and PGSI Data were analyzed by means of MPLUS 6 (Muthén & Muthén, ). Because of highly skewed distribution of PG, a robust Weighted Least Square method of parameter estimation was used (WLSMV) 17

17 Overall SELF-EFFICACY PROTECTIVE FACTORS -.46 CONTROL -.04 R 2 =.55 AGGRESSIVE ADDS PROBLEM GAMBLING FAMILY.11 AGE.27 FIT INDICES: χ 2 (36) = 182, p <.001 TLI =.98, CFI =.97 RMSEA =.046 SRMR =.015 WRMR=.796 PROPENSION TO RISK BELIEFS RISK FACTORS 18

18 Online SELF-EFFICACY PROTECTIVE FACTORS -.33 DECEITFUL INFORMATION.08 PROBLEM GAMBLING R 2 = PROPENSION TO RISK FIT INDICES: χ 2 (18) = 93, p <.001 TLI =.97, CFI =.96 RMSEA =.065 SRMR =.036 WRMR=.942 BELIEFS FAMILY RISK FACTORS 19

19 Conclusions 20

20 Conclusions The combined use of two measures of Problem Gambling on a representative sample of Italian adult gamblers allowed to estimate the percentage of potentially problematic adult gamblers in Italy In the Overall sample the prevalence is low and not so different to those recently reported by Griffiths in his review of European adult gambling prevalence studies In the Online sample the prevalence is low considering the whole population (gambling + non gambling internet users), but is high if we consider only gamblers 21

21 Conclusions The most important correlates of Problem Gambling are of personal nature: Impaired self-regulation Erroneous beliefs regarding the odds of winning, own control of the game, etc. Impulsiveness, low level of self-control Propensity to take risks Family history 22

22 Conclusions in relation to the aims of the study What are the distinctive characteristics of Italian adult problem gamblers? They are omnivorous : play more games, are not interested in or do not participate only in a single game Dedicate more time to gambling, gamble more frequently and spend more money on gambling Started to gamble at younger age, tend to have at least one parent with gambling problems Are more frequently male Have more difficulty in managing money Tend to experience psychological states of dissatisfaction and of psychological distress 23

23 Limits of the study - Only self-report measures: possible bias due to social desirability and self-presentational concerns. This was partially controlled with the use of a Social Desirability scale; - Possible bias due to quota sampling: Results are not too different from those reported for Italy by Bastiani et al. (2011) who used a random sampling approach, with postal questionnaires. - Sample size: it was enough to guarantee an adequate level of statistical confidence (95%) as far as prevalence rates for the Italian populations are concerned, since we were not interested in prevalence estimates for specific subgroups of the Italian population (regional estimates, sociodemographic segmentation, etc.). 25

24 Agenda for the next Italian studies on PG Deepen and updating the analysis of internet problem gambling Examination of co-morbidity factors (psychopathology, substance abuse, alcoholism, internet addiction) Prevalence of PG in adolescence, study of the development of PG from adolescence to young adulthood 26

25 Special thanks to Teresa Zompetti, Tania Milesi, Stefania Colombo, Alessandro Lottomatica Roberta Fida, Sara Podio-Guidugli, Luciana Mamazza, Michele University of Rome THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION 27

26 Updating Problem Gambling Prevalence in Italy 9th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues Loutraki, September September 2012 Part of the results of this study are discussed in: Barbaranelli, C., Vecchione, M., Fida, R., Podio-Guidugli, S. (in press). Estimating the prevalence of adult problem gambling in Italy with SOGS and PGSI. Journal of Gambling Issues. Claudio Barbaranelli, Ph.D. Sapienza University of Rome Department of Psychology Via dei Marsi 78, Rome, Italy 28