Impaired control over gambling in gaming machine and off-course gamblers

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Addiction Studies
• Gambling Research

Background:

• Problem gambling is a significant public health concern.
• Understanding impaired control is crucial for developing effective interventions.
• Different gambling modalities may present unique challenges to control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare subjective impaired control between off-course Totalizator Agency Board (TAB) horse/dog racing and electronic gaming machines (EGMs).
• To investigate gender differences in electronic gaming machine (EGM) play.
• To assess the validity of a measure for impaired gambling control.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted with 84 male TAB gamblers and 137 EGM players (73 female, 64 male) recruited from gambling venues in Adelaide, South Australia.
• Participants gambled at least weekly and were over 18.
• Impaired control was measured using a shortened version of The Scale of Gambling Choices.

Main Results:

• Impaired control over gambling demonstrated a robust factor structure with minimal differences between EGM and TAB gamblers.
• The impaired control measure showed concurrent validity when compared against gambling involvement metrics.
• No significant gender differences in impaired control were found for EGM play.

Conclusions:

• Impaired control appears to be a generalized process across TAB racing and EGM gambling, affecting both genders similarly.
• The findings support the refinement and application of the impaired control concept to excessive gambling.
• The measure of impaired control exhibits strong face, construct, and concurrent validity.