Predictors of gambling and problem gambling in Canada

Williams, Robert J.; Leonard, Carrie A.; Belanger, Yale D.; Christensen, Darren R.; el‐Guebaly, Nady; Hodgins, David C.; McGrath, Daniel S.; Nicoll, Fiona; Smith, Garry J.; Stevens, Rhys

doi:10.17269/s41997-020-00443-x

Cited by 39 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Previous research has also linked frequent trading and overconfidence with male gender, which the present research did not find (Barber & Odean, 2001). Previous gambling research has also linked problem gambling and male gender (Afifi, Cox, Martens, Sareen, & Enns, 2010;Williams et al, 2021), which the present research also did not find. Gender differences in the present study became insignificant once all other variables were controlled for.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 83%

“…This study suggests therefore that greater consideration should be given to the hypothesis that a behavioral addiction to gambling-like activities contributes to suboptimal investment behaviors amongst a considerable number of investors in general. Furthermore, the study also suggests that gambling prevalence surveys should also ask about questions related to investing, as one recent Canadian survey has done (Williams et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…This study contributes to previous research into investing and gambling in two ways. Firstly, previous studies of the link between investing and gambling have sometimes focused on only the minority of investors appearing at gambling clinics (Grall-Bronnec et al, 2017;Granero et al, 2012;Shin et al, 2015;Team & Turner, 2011), on the activities of a small number of day-traders (Arthur & Delfabbro, 2017), or on investors' engagement with high-risk investments such as options (Arthur et al, 2015;Williams et al, 2021). This study built on that research by broadening the sample of interest to US investors in general, and by associating problem gambling with perhaps the most prevalent error from the behavioral finance literature: the too frequent trading of stocks (Barber & Odean, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The stock market as a casino: Associations between stock market trading frequency and problem gambling

Mosenhauer

Newall

Walasek

2021

JBA

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Background and aims Personal investors decrease their stock market investment returns by trading frequently, which the behavioral finance literature has primarily explained via investors' overconfidence and low levels of financial literacy. This study investigates whether problem gambling can help account for frequent trading in a sample of active gambler/investors, as suggestive of frequent trading being in part driven by a behavioral addiction to gambling-like activities. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study of 795 US-based participants, who reported both being active gamblers and holding stock market investments. Recollected stock trading activity (typical portfolio size, purchases and sales of stocks) was compared with scores on the Problem Gambling Severity Index, a financial literacy scale, and a measure of overconfidence. Results Self-reported relative stock portfolio turnover was positively associated with problem gambling scores. This association was robust to controls for financial literacy, overconfidence, and demographics, and occurred equally among investors of all self-reported portfolio sizes. Discussion and conclusions This study provides support for the hypothesis that behavioral addiction to gambling-like activities is associated with frequent stock market trading. New investment products that increase the ease of trading may therefore be detrimental to some investors.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The stock market as a casino: Associations between stock market trading frequency and problem gambling

Mosenhauer

Newall

Walasek

2021

JBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…EGM participation rates in Canada are directly related to EGM density (Williams, Leonard, Belanger, Christensen, El-Guebaly, Hodgins, McGrath, Nicoll, Smith, & Stevens, 2021). Thus, constraints on the availability of EGMs, particularly in low-income areas, would have likely have significant public health benefits.…”

Section: Egm Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Etiology of problem gambling in Canada.

Williams¹,

Shaw²,

Belanger³

et al. 2023

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

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Objective: To conduct a large-scale national cohort study to identify the current etiological risk factors for problem gambling in Canada. Method: A cohort of 10,119 Canadian gamblers completed a comprehensive self-administered online questionnaire in 2018 and were reassessed in 2019. At baseline, the sample contained 1,388 at-risk gamblers, 1,346 problem gamblers, and 2,710 with a major DSM-5 mental health disorder. A total of 108 independent variables (IVs) were available for analysis, as well as the self-report of perceived causes of gambling-related problems for 1,261 individuals. Results: The strongest multivariate predictors of current and future problem gambling were "gambling-related" variables (i.e., current and past problem gambling, intensive gambling involvement, playing electronic gambling machines (EGMs), gambling fallacies, socializing with other people having gambling-related problems, and family history of having gambling-related problems). Beyond gambling-related variables, greater impulsivity and lower household income were robustly predictive. Thirteen additional variables were either concurrently or prospectively predictive, but not both. In contrast to the many different quantitative predictors, self-reported causes tended to be singular and psychologically oriented (i.e., desire to win money, boredom, stress, poor self-control). Conclusions: The predictors of problematic gambling in the present study are very similar to the predictors identified in prior international longitudinal and cross-sectional research. This implies core cross-cultural risk factors, with gambling-related variables and impulsivity being most important, and comorbidities and demographic variables having more modest contributions. The additional value of the present results is that they comprehensively identify the relative importance of all known etiologically relevant variables within a current Canadian context. Public Health Significance StatementThe public significance of this article is that it comprehensively identifies the most important predictors of concurrent and future problem gambling in Canada. This information can be used to guide more effective prevention and treatment.

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“…Thus, skins used for games of chance may simply be an accessible form of currency for these gamblers and is the source of their gambling-harm. An alternative explanation is that the games of chance used for skin gambling (e.g., roulette, coinflip, slots) are more likely to lead to gambling problems and harm due to their structural characteristics similar to casino table games and EGMs which are known to facilitate persistence, loss chasing and impaired control (Currie et al, 2021;Dowling et al, 2005;Schull, 2012;Mazar et al, 2020;Williams et al, 2021). In contrast, esports betting, whether using cash or skins, is based on discrete events that do not provide the opportunity for continuous gambling.…”

Section: Skin Gambling Is Uniquely Associated With At-risk Gambling A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Skin Gambling Contributes to Gambling Problems and Harm After Controlling for Other Forms of Traditional Gambling

et al. 2022

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Esports betting and skin gambling involve betting on the outcomes of video game competitions and/or using virtual currencies for betting. The present study evaluated a conceptual model linking video game involvement, video-game related gambling, traditional gambling, and gambling problems and harm. Data were collected via a cross-sectional online survey with 737 participants aged 18 + who engaged in esports cash betting (n = 576), esports skin betting (n = 184), or skin gambling on games of chance (n = 330). The findings highlighted the distinctly different relationships esports cash betting versus skin gambling had with traditional gambling involvement and harmful gambling. Gambling with skins on games of chance was predictive of gambling problems and gambling harm after controlling for participation in traditional gambling (OR = 1.32 and 1.17 respectively). Whereas betting on esports with cash was associated with betting on a variety of other forms of gambling, and there was no unique contribution to problems and harm over and above participation on these other forms (e.g., EGMs, sports betting). Skin gambling is directly implicated in gambling problems and harm, whereas cash betting on esports is only indicative of interest in many forms of potentially harmful gambling. Greater research attention to skin gambling is warranted, and particularly with respect to its role as a virtual currency more easily accessible for gambling.

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Predictors of gambling and problem gambling in Canada

Cited by 39 publications

References 15 publications

The stock market as a casino: Associations between stock market trading frequency and problem gambling

The stock market as a casino: Associations between stock market trading frequency and problem gambling

Etiology of problem gambling in Canada.

Skin Gambling Contributes to Gambling Problems and Harm After Controlling for Other Forms of Traditional Gambling

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