Phenotype of Gambling Disorder Patients with Lotteries as a Preferred Form of Gambling

Abstract

Lottery gambling can become an addictive behavior which can significantly interfere with daily functioning. The objectives of this work were to estimate the prevalence of lottery gambling, to assess the profile related to this gambling type in a large clinical sample of patients who met criteria for gambling disorder (GD), and to compare this profile with the other two non-strategic forms of gambling (slot-machines and bingo). Sample included n = 3,531 patients consecutively attended for treatment-seeking due to gambling-related problems. All the participants met criteria for GD and were into the range of 18 to 85 years old. Sociodemographic variables, GD severity, psychopathological state, and personality traits were assessed. Statistical comparisons between the groups defined by the patients’ gambling preference (lotteries versus other gambling activities) were conducted, with chi-square test and analysis of variance. The prevalence of lotteries as the only gambling activity was 2.5%, 8.9% for lottery gambling as primary activity with other secondary gambling types, and 20.6% for lotteries as primary or secondary gambling activity. Lottery gambling and bingo gambling were more prevalent among women (bingo included the highest percentage of women). Compared to slot machine gambling, lotteries and bingo grouped older patients and those with later age of onset of the gambling-related problems. Bingo gambling showed the highest psychological distress and the most dysfunctional personality traits. This study shows the high frequency of lottery gambling among treatment-seeking for GD patients, and it provides empirical evidence about the profile associated with this gambling activity compared to other non-strategic gambling forms. The likelihood of lottery gambling is higher for women, patients married or living with a stable partner, and those within higher social position indexes.

Too Young to Gamble: Long-term Risks from Underage Gambling

“…Although it dominates gambling in Spain, the estimates presented in Table 4 suggest the lottery is not associated with problem gambling. While the empirical evidence on lottery playing and problem gambling is limited to the Spanish context, findings from Granero et al (2023) are consistent with the impression that while most problem gamblers play the lottery, the lottery is their main gambling activity in only a small proportion of cases.…”

Harm-to-self from gambling: A national study of Australian adults

“…There is some evidence that these forms have virtually nil unique association with gambling problems in Australia (Browne et al, 2023). However, other recent evidence, including from this study, suggests that some people do experience harm from lottery gambling (Granero et al, 2023). Future studies might include people who play lottery only, to further understand this issue.…”