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Effective Harm Minimisation Practices
... A variety of gambling harm minimization strategies have been proposed and implemented in various jurisdictions (Christensen, 2020;Drawson et al., 2017;Tanner et al., 2017). These initiativesinclude changes to and restrictions on how gambling products are provided, including limiting operating hours, age restrictions, and slowing down the speed of electronic gambling machines (EGMs; e.g. ...
... Although some of these harm minimization strategies have shown some promise, empirical evidence of effectiveness is generally lacking to date (Christensen, 2020;Drawson et al., 2017;Harris & Griffiths, 2017;McAuliffe et al., 2021). It is recognized, however, that effective minimization of harm will require a multifaceted and coordinated set of initiatives (Abbott, 2020;Christensen, 2020;Hing et al., 2019). ...
... Although some of these harm minimization strategies have shown some promise, empirical evidence of effectiveness is generally lacking to date (Christensen, 2020;Drawson et al., 2017;Harris & Griffiths, 2017;McAuliffe et al., 2021). It is recognized, however, that effective minimization of harm will require a multifaceted and coordinated set of initiatives (Abbott, 2020;Christensen, 2020;Hing et al., 2019). ...
A common public health initiative in many jurisdictions is provision of advice to people to limit gambling to reduce the risk of gambling-related harm. The purpose of this study is to use consistent methodology with existing population-based prevalence surveys of gambling and related harms from different countries to identify quantitative limits for lower risk gambling. Risk curve analyses were conducted with eleven high quality data sets from eight Western countries. Gambling indicators were monthly expenditure, percentage of income spent on gambling, monthly frequency, and number of different types of gambling. Harm indicators included financial, emotional, health, and relationship impacts. Contributing data sets produced limit ranges for each gambling indicator and each harm indicator, which were compared. Gender differences in limit ranges were minor. Modal analysis, an assessment of the mean of the upper and lower range limits, indicated that the risk of harm increases if an individual gambles at these levels or greater: 120 CAD monthly, five to eight times monthly, spends more than 1 to 3% of gross monthly income or plays three to four different gambling types. This study provides further evidence that lower-risk gambling guidelines can be based upon empirically derived limits.
... There is a common interest for society, the gambling industry and individuals and their families to prevent gambling problems. Prevention requires a multifaceted approach (Christensen, 2020;Hing et al., 2019) focusing on the parameters of the gambling products and environment as well as individual-level initiatives. Prevention can take place at the primary, secondary and tertiary level (Caplan, 1964). ...
Background and aims
Lower-risk recommendations for avoiding gambling harm have been developed as a primary prevention measure, using self-reported prevalence survey data. The aim of this study was to conduct similar analyses using gambling company player data.
Methods
The sample ( N = 35,753) were Norsk Tipping website customers. Gambling indicators were frequency, expenditure, duration, number of gambling formats and wager. Harm indicators (financial. social, emotional, harms in two or more areas) were derived from the GamTest self-assessment instrument. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were performed separately for each of the five gambling indicators for each of the four harm indicators.
Results
ROC areas under the curve were between 0.55 and 0.68. Suggested monthly lower-risk limits were less than 8.7 days, expenditure less than 54 €, duration less than 72–83 min, number of gambling formats less than 3 and wager less than 118–140€. Most risk curves showed a rather stable harm level up to a certain point, from which the increase in harm was fairly linear.
Discussion
The suggested lower-risk limits in the present study are higher than limits based on prevalence studies. There was a significant number of gamblers (5–10%) experiencing harm at gambling levels well below the suggested cut-offs and the risk increase at certain consumption levels.
Conclusions
Risk of harm occurs at all levels of gambling involvement within the specific gambling commercial environment assessed in an increasingly available gambling market where most people gamble in multiple commercial environments, minimizing harm is important for all customers.
We investigated changes in the proportion of firearm suicides in Western countries since the 1980s and the relation of these changes to the change in the proportion of households owning firearms. Several countries had an obvious decline in firearm suicides: Norway, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Multilevel modeling of longitudinal data confirmed the effect of the proportion of households owning firearms. Legislation and regulatory measures reducing the availability of firearms in private households can distinctly strengthen the prevention of firearm suicides.