Trends and patterns in

gambling behaviour

SSA Annual Conference

Dr Steve Sharman

University of East London (UEL)

Gambling is everywhere

What is gambling?

Who Gambles – and how much?

British Gambling Prevalence

Survey (1999, 2007, 2010);

Health Survey for England

(HSE; 2015, 2015)

73% of UK adults have

gambled in some form over

the past 12 months (BGPS,

2010)

How much did gamblers lose

between October 2015 and

September 2016?

Gambling participation over

time

Based on adults aged over 16

years of age, in the past 12

months:

1999 – 72% (BGPS)

2007 – 68% (BGPS)

2010 – 73% (BGPS)

2012 – 65% (HSE)

2015 – 63% (HSE)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1999 2007 2010 2012 2015

Past -year Gambling Prevalence (BGPS)

Gambling and age over time

Gambling forms over time

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

National Lottery

Other Lotteries

Scratchcards

Sports and other events

Football Pools

Slot Machines

Horses and Dogs

Gambling Forms by Survey Year

2010 2007 1999

Online gambling

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2007 2010 2015

Prevalence of Online Gambling Figure for 1999 >0.5%

HSE 2012, no overall figure

These overall figures are

deceptive when broken

down by age and gender.

These figures represent a

‘narrow’ definition (no lottery

products)

Problem Gambling

Gambling behaviour can

become maladaptive

Problem Gambling (PG)

prevalence measured

using a range of

instruments

Focus on the DSM criteria,

and mainly the PGSI

Problem gambling and at-

risk gambling

1999 2007 2010 2012 2015

PG At

Risk PG

At

Risk PG

At

Risk PG

At

Risk PG

At

Risk

SOGS 0.8 - - - - - - - -

DSM 0.6 0.6 0.9 0.5 - 0.7 -

PGSI - - 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.6

Problem gambling and at-

risk gambling

1999 2007 2010 2012 2015

PG At

Risk PG

At

Risk PG

At

Risk PG

At

Risk PG

At

Risk

SOGS 0.8 8.6 - - - - - - - -

DSM 0.6 2.9 0.6 4.5 0.9 4.1 0.5 - 0.7 -

PGSI - - 0.5 6.5 0.7 7.5 0.4 4.2 0.6 3.9

Past year gamblers

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Overall Past Year Overall Past Year

PGSI DSM

Problem Gambling Prevalence - Overall and past

year gamblers

1999 2007 2010

Problem gambling and age

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

SOGS DSM PGSI DSM PGSI DSM

1999 2007 2010

Problem Gambling Prevalence by Age

16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Problem gambling and

gambling form

02468

10121416

Problem Gambling by Form and Year

1999

2007

2010

Gambling support in the uk

A range of treatment

options are available to

gamblers:

Gamcare

National Problem

Gambling Clinic

Gamblers Anonymous

Gordon Moody

Association

Treatment seeking in

numbers

2004 – 21,778 calls

2014-15 – 77,900 calls

Unique website visits 08/09 – 191,042

Unique website visits 14/15 –

1,219,931

Treatment seekers – preferred form

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2003 2004 2005 2006 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15

Betting FOBTs Fruit / Slot Machines Online

Gambling form - age and

gender

Summary

Email:

ssharman@uel.ac.uk

stevesharman81

Problem Gambling is

around 1%

Past Year Gamblers

Younger Age Groups

Males

Online Gambling /

Preferred Form