Gambling among European professional athletes. Prevalence and associated factors

Abstract

In Europe, the prevalence of gambling disorders in the general population ranges from 0.15 to 6.6%. Professional athletes are known for having risk factors for addictive behaviors, such as young age or sensation seeking, though no study has yet tried to evaluate the prevalence of gambling and gambling disorders among this specific population. The goals of this study were to estimate the prevalence of gambling, problematic or not, among European professional athletes and to explore the factors that are associated with gambling practice and gambling problems in professional athletes. A self-completion questionnaire was specifically designed for this study. The questionnaires were distributed by European Union athletes to professional ice hockey, rugby, handball, basketball, football, indoor football, volleyball, and cricket teams in Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Socio-demographic variables (age, sex, education, marital and parental status, sport, country of birth, and country of practice), variables linked to gambling (gambling habits, screening of gambling problems with the Lie/Bet questionnaire, and gambling related cognitions), and impulsive behavior data (urgency, premeditation, perseverance, and sensation seeking [UPPS]-Short Form questionnaire) were gathered. There were 1,236 questionnaires filled out. The percentage of professional athletes that had gambled at least once during the previous year was 56.6%. The prevalence of problem gambling, current or past, was 8.2%. A certain number of variables were associated with the gambling status. In particular, betting on one's own team (OR = 4.1, CI [1.5-11.5]), betting online (OR = 2.9, CI [1.6-5.4]), gambling regularly (OR = 4.0, CI [2.1-7.6]), and having a high positive urgency score (OR = 1.5, CI [1.3-1.7]) were associated with gambling problems, current or past, among professional athletes. Professional athletes are particularly exposed to both gambling and problem gambling.

Problem Gambling in the Fitness World—A General Population Web Survey

“…The 8 percent occurrence is comparable to the figure reported in European team sports athletes (8 percent), measured with the same screening tool as in the present study but in almost exclusively male respondents [5], and elite athletes in various sports in Sweden (7 percent, measured instead with a three-item screening tool, the NODS-CLiP) [6,28]. The marked gender difference was also consistent with previous data in elite athletes; the present study did not demonstrate a likely increase in female problem gambling (one percent) compared to the general population, whereas the figure in men was 12 percent, comparable to the prevalence figure reported from elite athletes (14 percent, [6]) but clearly higher than that reported in Grall-Bronnec's study of team elite athletes, where almost 100 percent of participants were men [5].…”

“…Problem gambling was assessed as occurring at any time during lifetime, and measured through the two-item Lie/Bet scale, which includes one question about increased gambling (measuring the diagnostic criterion describing tolerance) and one question about having to lie to one's nearest family about the extent of one's gambling (corresponding to the diagnostic criterion describing lying), and where the endorsing of at least one item is interpreted as a positive screen for problem gambling [21][22][23]. The same instrument was also used in the study of problem gambling prevalence in European athletes cited above [5], allowing for comparison with the prevalence data of that study. The Lie/Bet instrument has been described to have a high sensitivity (0.81) and specificity (0.94) with respect to problem gambling as measured with the well-established Problem Gambling Severity Index in clinical mental health samples [24].…”

“…Being an athlete, particularly on an elite level, has been suggested to be a risk factor of problem gambling, although limited research can support this notion. Grall-Bronnec and coworkers reported a problem gambling frequency of eight percent in male athletes [5]. Moreover, a recent study including both male and female elite athletes revealed an altogether moderately elevated frequency of lifetime problem gambling, but with a striking gender difference (14 percent in men, compared to 1 percent in women).…”

Problem gambling and associated mental health concerns in elite athletes: a narrative review

“…Grall-Bronnec and colleagues,81 in their assessment of 1236 European professional athletes, reported that 56.6% of athletes had gambled during the previous year, with the prevalence of problem gambling being 8.2%, and with betting on one’s team, betting online and gambling regularly being associated with gambling problems. Betting on one’s team was specifically associated with current or past gambling problems.…”

Neural correlates of cue‐ and stress‐induced craving in gambling disorders: implications for transcranial magnetic stimulation interventions

“…Gambling disorder (GD) is a progressive and recurrent maladaptive pattern of gambling behavior, leading to impaired functioning. The prevalence of GD in the general population has been estimated between 1 and 2% in Western countries (Welte et al, 2008;Wardle et al, 2011), with several European countries reporting rates above 6% (Grall-Bronnec et al, 2016).…”