Reaching out to big losers: Exploring intervention effects using individualized follow-up

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Gambling Research
• Public Health Interventions

Background:

• Previous studies indicated a duty-of-care telephone call reduced gambling expenditure.
• The current study aimed to analyze individual change trajectories and subgroup responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effects of a duty-of-care telephone call on individual gambling trajectories.
• To identify distinct patterns of change and differential intervention effects across subgroups.

Main Methods:

• A matched pair design compared telephone intervention with a no-intervention control group.
• 596 pairs from the top 0.5% of high-expenditure customers were analyzed.
• Growth mixture modeling identified player trajectories and intervention effects on subgroups based on theoretical loss (TL).

Main Results:

• Three subgroups (low, medium, high TL) were identified.
• The telephone intervention significantly reduced TL across all subgroups, with the greatest effect in the high TL group.
• The intervention was most effective for casino/sport gamblers, males, and young to middle-aged individuals.

Conclusions:

• A brief telephone intervention demonstrated sustained 12-month effects on reducing theoretical loss (TL), particularly for high-expenditure gamblers.
• Advanced statistical modeling identified key customer characteristics associated with reduced TL.
• Findings support evidence-based prevention strategies for gambling harm.