1.
What the Public Thinks
About Problem Gambling
(and Why It Matters)
Keith Whyte
National Council on Problem
Gambling
Don Feeney
Minnesota Lottery
2.
What do we need to know?
• How does the public perceive addiction?
• Do they stigmatize addiction?
• Do they recognize gambling addiction?
• Do they understand the causes?
• Do they understand the solutions?
• Do they know where to go for help?
• Do they know preventative factors?
• What are they willing to do?
• What messages are credible and appealing?
3.
Data Sources
• Ipsos Reid US Express Omnibus Survey
– + U.S adults
– Internet sample of 1000 US adults
– June 2009, September 2011, June 2012, May 2013, May 2014, May
2015
• Ipsos Reid Survey
– Telephone sample
– 1000 U.S. adults
– June, 2008
5.
“…Compulsive gambling is an addiction just like
addiction to drugs or alcohol”
72%
13%
15%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Agree
Disagree
Neutral
Source: Ipsos 9/11 survey of 1009 US adults
6.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Frequently talks about gambling
Unexplained absences
Gambles on regular basis
Has financial troubles
Tries to win back losses
Gambles all the time
Neglects family
Lies about gambling
Borrows money
% of U.S. adults
Source: NCPG (2015)
What are the signs of a gambling problem?
7.
2%
12%
15%
21%
36%
9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1% or less 2%-5% 6%-10% 11%-20% 21%-50% More than
50%
“What percentage of U.S. adults have a
gambling addiction?”
9.
Would you feel ashamed or embarrassed if a family
member had …
18%
18%
12%
13%
4%
3%
26%
27%
27%
26%
11%
5%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Sex addiction
Drug addiction
Gambling addiction
Alcohol addiction
Mental Illness
Used a wheelchair
% of adults answering 5, 6, or 7 on a
1 (not ashamed) to 7 (extremely ashamed) scale
7
5 or 6
Source: NCPG 2015
8%
39%
39%
45%
44%
15%
10.
More likely to develop gambling addiction
55%
34%
29%
28%
45%
34%
12%
Men
Women
High School
Seniors
Poor
Minorities
People like me
Source: 2009 Voices of America Survey
11.
5%
16%
26%
25%
8%
12%
43%
Men
Women
High School
Seniors
Poor
Minorities
People like me
Less likely to develop gambling addiction
Source: 2009 Voices of America Survey
13.
Would you say that addiction to gambling is primarily …?
49%
6%
31%
14%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Personal or moral
weakness
Medical problem Both Something else
Source: NCPG 2015
14.
38%
42%
51%
72%
73%
73%
81%
Person's genetics or other medical problem
Traumatic event in someone's life
Moral weakness
Parent or family member who gambles
Being around people who gamble a lot
Not having enough willpower
Having an addictive personality
Percent saying “very likely” or “somewhat likely”
Source: NCPG 2013
How likely is this to cause a gambling addiction?
15.
“Controlling compulsive gambling is mostly
a matter of willpower”
21%
23%
55%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Neutral
Disagree
Agree
Source: NCPG 2012
16.
12%
29%
1%
4%
54%
0% 20% 40% 60%
No one
All 3
Government
Gambling venue
Individual
Source: 6/09 Ipsos Voice of Amercia Survey
Who is to blame when someone develops a
gambling addiction?
17.
34%
53%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
The government should do more to
help people with gambling addiction
The gambling industry should do more
to help people with gambling addiction
Percent agreeing
Source: NCPG 2015
19.
How successful is this as a solution to a
gambling addiction?
32%
43%
44%
46%
55%
68%
75%
79%
79%
81%
Medication
Talking to a financial counselor
Education about gambling, such as odds and…
Counseling with a religious leader
Limiting their access to money
Abstinence from gambling
Treatment by a trained professional
Support from family
Counseling with someone in recovery
Participation in Gambler's Anonymous
Percent saying “very successful” or “somewhat successful”
Source: Ipsos US Express Omnibus, May 2013
20.
“…The majority of people who receive treatment for
compulsive gambling achieve life-long recovery”
40%
29%
31%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Neutral
Disagree
Agree
Source: NCPG 2012
21.
“When you hear the word ‘recovery,’ as in ‘this person is in recovery
from a gambling addiction,’ what does it mean to you?”
19%
23%
54%
4%
No longer gambles
Has gambling under control
Trying to stop
Don't know
Source: NCPG 2012
23.
“If a friend or family member approached me with a gambling
problem, I am confident I would know where to get them help”
37%
43%
20%
Agree
Disagree
Neutral
Source: NCPG 2011
24.
What would you do?
24%
22%
19%
10%
9%
8%
5%
5%
5%
4%
3%
3%
1%
13%
Refer to GA
Urge self-control
Call help line
Talk to them
Clergy
Physician
Gambling program
Internet
Nothing
Friend or relative
Mental health clinic
Other
Intervention
Don't know
Source: SCSU 2/06
25.
32%
30%
38%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Neutral
Disagree
Agree
Source: NCPG 2015
“…Services to treat compulsive gambling are
available in my community”
26.
45%
20%
35%
34%
11%
55%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Don't know
Disagree
Agree
Gamblers
Non-gamblers
“…Services to treat compulsive gambling are
available in my community”
Source: SCSU 2/09
27.
Who would you turn to if you or a friend had
a gambling problem?
4%
11%
17%
17%
21%
22%
68%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Other
Friends
Help line
School counselor
Teacher
Internet
Parent
Source: 4/08 MN DHS survey of 121 10th graders
28.
Qualitative Research Findings
Interviews
Focus Groups
29.
What should we call it?
• Compulsive gambling
• Gambling addiction
• Weak willed gambling
• Treatable addiction
• Problem gambling
• Moral weakness
• Lifestyle choice
30.
• Compulsive gambling
• Gambling addiction
• Weak willed gambling
• Treatable addiction
• Problem gambling
• Moral weakness
• Lifestyle choice
What should we call it?
31.
• Compulsive gambling
• Gambling addiction
• Weak willed gambling
• Treatable addiction
• Problem gambling
• Moral weakness
• Lifestyle choice
What is the best term?
32.
“Compulsive gambling is not
serious, and it’s a lifestyle choice.
It’s like going to the bar and
enjoying pulltabs and beers several
times a week. It becomes a
problem when the player has to hit
the ATM too often.”
33.
Consensus opinion
• Starts as a lifestyle choice
• Becomes uncontrollable due to financial losses
or pleasure of win
• Ultimately becomes an addiction
• This addiction is treatable
34.
Key Findings
• Opinions are poorly formed and weakly held (mostly)
• Problem gambling is accepted as a serious issue
• But it is often seen as a moral weakness
• It is commonly stigmatized
• It happens to “other” people
• The public is skeptical about treatment effectiveness
• They are not aware of services
• Problem gambling is poorly understood
35.
Key messages
• Problem gambling can affect anyone, regardless
of age or social/ethnic class
• Problem gambling is not a moral weakness. It is
a medical condition.
• Problem gambling is preventable
• Treatment is available
• Treatment works
36.
Implications
“How many of our goals will be accomplished with
a common perception that problem gambling is a
moral weakness, that it can be controlled through
greater willpower, and that treatment doesn’t
work?”
• Feeney, Northstar Roundtable (2008)
37.
Indeed, Do We Have Goals?
• No national RG/PG plan (yet…) and few
comprehensive state/provincial plans
• $7 billion in Federal gaming revenue but still
the ONLY disorder without any Federal
personnel or funds?
• Still states with revenue from gaming & public
health consequences but no public funds?
38.
Substance Use Disorders Gambling Disorders
• U.S. Pop. With Past Year
Problem 2
6 Million
(3 times smaller)
• 2013 Public Funds
Invested into Problem
Gambling Services4
$60.6 Million
(281 times smaller)
• U.S. Pop. With Past Year
Problem 1
18.9 Million
• 2009 Public Funds
Invested into SUD
Treatment3
$17 Billion
39.
Lack of Seriousness
• Gambling excluded from Americans with
Disabilities Act
• No consistent minimum age, regulation
• Few courts accept gambling as a insanity
defense, mitigating circumstance or sentencing
consideration
40.
Standards, Anyone?
• National benchmarks/consensus/standards/best
practices for PETERRR?
• Or hundreds of jurisdictions doing things in
thousands different ways?
41.
Looking Towards Future
• Shift to targeted & evaluated messages
• Better define “responsible gaming”
• Recovery seen as abstinent rather than tying to
stop
• Access to big data facilitates informed choice &
social norms approach.
• State, national or even global solutions for self-
exclusion.
42.
Bottom Line
• Advocacy is the best way way to create positive
changes in these trends.
• Opportunity to change what it means to be a problem
gambler:
– Then & Now: Stigma, shame, indifference,
rare services, more likely to fail
– Next: Acceptance, support, broad & deep
services, more likely to succeed, recovery!
43.
1. Open New Horizons app
2. Select the Agenda button
3. Select This Session
4. Select Take Survey at the bottom
To provide session feedback:
If you are unable to download the app,
please raise your hand for a paper version.
Los recortes son una forma práctica de recopilar diapositivas importantes para volver a ellas más tarde. Ahora puedes personalizar el nombre de un tablero de recortes para guardar tus recortes.
Crear un tablero de recortes
Compartir esta SlideShare
¿Odia los anuncios?
Consiga SlideShare sin anuncios
Acceda a millones de presentaciones, documentos, libros electrónicos, audiolibros, revistas y mucho más. Todos ellos sin anuncios.
Oferta especial para lectores de SlideShare
Solo para ti: Prueba exclusiva de 60 días con acceso a la mayor biblioteca digital del mundo.
La familia SlideShare crece. Disfruta de acceso a millones de libros electrónicos, audiolibros, revistas y mucho más de Scribd.
Parece que tiene un bloqueador de anuncios ejecutándose. Poniendo SlideShare en la lista blanca de su bloqueador de anuncios, está apoyando a nuestra comunidad de creadores de contenidos.
¿Odia los anuncios?
Hemos actualizado nuestra política de privacidad.
Hemos actualizado su política de privacidad para cumplir con las cambiantes normativas de privacidad internacionales y para ofrecerle información sobre las limitadas formas en las que utilizamos sus datos.
Puede leer los detalles a continuación. Al aceptar, usted acepta la política de privacidad actualizada.