Gambling prevention

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Gambling prevention research From legislation
to action
Dorigny-Lausanne1 2 march 2005

• The provision of player information Its
  effectiveness impact on excessive gambling

Professor Alex Blaszczynski PhD The University of
Sydney Gambling Research Unit
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Acknowledgments

• Collaborators
• Professor Robert Ladouceur, Laval University,
  Quebec
• Dr. Lia Nower, University of Missouri, St. Louis,
  Missouri
• Australian Gaming Council

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Questions

• What is responsible gambling?
• Industry versus Personal responsibility?
• What is informed choice?
• What player information is required?
• Evidence for effectiveness?

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What is responsible gambling what does it hope
to achieve?

• Provision of a safe gambling product
• No exploitation
• No misleading claims
• Does not promote or induce excess
• Does not fosters loss of controlor dependence
• Objective
• Reduce incidence of problem gambling

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• Objective of player information
• Primary prevention to prevent entry into problem
  gambling/or change attitudes
• Tertiary prevention regain control reduce
  problem gambling

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Health lifestyle choices
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What are the relative responsibilities of
individuals industry in preventing problem
gambling?

• Individuals retain responsibility over personal
  choices decisions
• Industry must provide sufficient information for
  informed choices to be made

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Cognitive models of problem gambling

• People gamble because of the belief in the
  possibility of winning
• Misunderstanding crucial elements (probabilities)
  of games of chance leads to
• An overestimate of the chance of winning
• Belief that personal skills can influence outcome
• Erroneous beliefs regarding independent events
  randomness

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What is informed choice?

• Capacity to choose between options given all
  relevant information to determine implications
  consequences of choice made

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What are requirements for informed choice?

• Competence
• Disclosure/understanding
• Relevant
• Accurate
• Accessible
• Full
• Timely
• Voluntary

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What specific player information is required to
allow informed choice

• Categories of information
• Warning gambling may lead to addiction/harm
• Counselling services
• Operation, characteristics configuration of
  games
• Attitude shift recreation versus income
• Tracking time money spent

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Is there any evidence player information
influences behaviour?

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Empirical data

• Hing (2004)
• Survey to determine awareness, perceived adequacy
  effectiveness of responsible gaming initiatives
• 86 aware of responsible gaming policy
• 67 aware of signs related to chance of winning
• 20 reported impact on behaviour

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• Similar findings reported by
• Steenbergh, Whelan, Meyers, May Floyd (2004)
• Focal Research Nova Scotia (2004)
• Interaction between information motivation to
  change influences attention to, absorption of,
  player information

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Does knowledge of statistics probabilities
influence erroneous beliefs?

• Behnsain Ladouceur (2004)
• Compared students attending statistics
  non-statistics courses
• Statistics group more knowledgeable
• No difference in rates of erroneous perceptions
  during play (70 vs 61)
• Implications cognitions shift during play
  irrespective of player information

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Should information be provided at school?

• Two studies evaluated school programs
• Gaboury Ladouceur (1993)
• Improved learning about gambling coping skills
• Failure to translate knowledge into changes in
  behaviour or attitudes

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Should information be provided at school?

• Williams, Connolly, Wood et al., (2004)
• Statistics vs non-statistics university students
• Information did not lead to differences between
  groups or across time in respect to
• Attitudes
• Time or money gambled
• Canadian Problem Gambling Index scores

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Should information be provided at school?

• Williams, Connolly, Wood et al., (2004)
• Educational program to Grades 10 11
• Improved knowledge, awareness resistance to
  gambling fallacies
• Reduction in time money spent gambling

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Summary

• Simple provision of information odds is
  insufficient to effect change
• Development of negative attitudes toward gambling
  is best predictor of decreased gambling behaviour
• Education about problem gambling erroneous
  cognitions contributing to gambling fallacies is
  the mechanism through which attitude change is
  achieved

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Balance between marketing player information

• Gaming machines are recreational devices on which
  you spend money
• It is possible to win in the short-term
• In the long term, in all but the most unusual
  cases extraordinary circumstances, this outcome
  is virtually impossible

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Gambling prevention research From legislation
to action
Dorigny-Lausanne1 2 march 2005

• The provision of player information Its
  effectiveness impact on excessive gambling

Professor Alex Blaszczynski PhD The University of
Sydney Gambling Research Unit