The experience of high-frequency gambling behavior of older adult females in the United Kingdom: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

The prevalence of older adult female gambling participation and gambling disorder is increasing in the UK, and there is a paucity of published research available to understand possible risk factors for frequent gambling in this demographic. The aim of the current study was to identify and explore motivations and patterns of gambling behavior in high-frequency older adult female gamblers in the UK, from the perspective of the individual and in the context of their experience of aging. Ten UK older adult female high-frequency gamblers were recruited via stratified purposive sampling, with a mean age of 70.4 years. Data was collected via semistructured interviews and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three core themes representative of the experience of this phenomenon emerged from the transcripts, including: Filling voids, emotional escape, and overspending. The present study has provided a contextualized understanding of motivating factors and several age-related vulnerabilities that may account for high gambling frequency in this population.

Women and gambling-related harm: a narrative literature review and implications for research, policy, and practice

“…Positive perceptions about the social and financial benefits of gambling may also impact on how some sub-groups of women may conceptualise and experience gambling-related harm and may be a key risk factor for problem gambling [37, 68, 69]. For example, Thomas and Lewis [37] found older women had lower perceptions of the harm associated with gambling at EGM venues because they felt that there was a trade-off between the social benefits of the gambling environment and the money they lost on EGMs [37].…”

“…For example, Thomas and Lewis [37] found older women had lower perceptions of the harm associated with gambling at EGM venues because they felt that there was a trade-off between the social benefits of the gambling environment and the money they lost on EGMs [37]. Similarly, research has demonstrated that older women felt safe and welcomed in gambling environments, reporting that the benefits of attending gambling venues heavily outweighed monetary losses from EGMs [68]. While they described regularly gambling more money on EGMs than they intended to, they perceived gambling as one of the few available and accessible leisure activities for older women [68].…”

“…Similarly, research has demonstrated that older women felt safe and welcomed in gambling environments, reporting that the benefits of attending gambling venues heavily outweighed monetary losses from EGMs [68]. While they described regularly gambling more money on EGMs than they intended to, they perceived gambling as one of the few available and accessible leisure activities for older women [68].…”

Women’s gambling behaviour, product preferences, and perceptions of product harm: differences by age and gambling risk status

“…Second, and perhaps less well understood, are differences between subgroups of women. For example, studies suggest that older women may be particularly vulnerable to gambling harm because of their increased social isolation, loneliness, lack of leisure alternatives, and physical health problems [ 34 , 35 ]. Studies suggest that women’s gambling behaviour may increase as women get older as a way to occupy their time after retirement, and after their children leave home [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Age-related physical and psychological vulnerability as pathways to problem gambling in older adults

“…Deterioration of physical health in old age is related to depression ( Aylaz et al., 2012 ). More specifically, recent qualitative research has indicated that when older adult problem gamblers experienced negative outcomes in relation to transitioning into older adulthood such as depression, they often engage in avoidant rather than adaptive coping behavior ( Pattinson & Parke, 2016 , 2017 ). These participants stated that they felt that their physical decline was inevitable, and that the negative outcomes would continue, because they did not have the resources to address the problems and to improve their social and physical circumstances ( Pattinson & Parke, 2017 ).…”