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Problem Gambling Methodologies

Gambling is certainly not a new pastime, in fact the activity can be found throughout history. And though in recent years addictive gamblers are coming under the spotlight of scrutiny, they too have been present throughout history. But because gambling has spread so rampantly throughout the world in new mediums like the Internet, new forms of control and regulation are sought to curb the exploitation and prevalence of problem gambling by online casinos and land-based gambling companies. As gambling at online casino sites and betting facilities also spreads countries are doing more to monitor problem gambling.

The UK passed the 2005 Gambling Act, which not only created the most powerful regulatory gambling board in the world, but also gave the Commission the power to really effect change in the online casino and land-based gambling industries. Along with the formation of the Gambling Commission, the Act green lit a Gambling Prevalence Research Study that would act as a baseline comparison for future statistics concerning gambling prevalence in Britain.

And now that the results are in, most in the UK are pretty pleased that the statistics indicate no significant rise in problem gamblers in the UK despite a large increase in online casino gambling.

Additionally, many in the online casino and land-based gambling industries are using the Gambling Prevalence Study as a means of comparison with other counties – and though that is valid to a point, comparisons must be used with caution.

The UK study used various internationally recognized methodologies to compare the online casino and land-based problem gambling prevalence in the UK. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders, 4th edition (DSM IV) was primarily used in the UK’s 1999 study, but in recent research study, researchers used both the DSM and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). The PGSI was developed and used in Canada and is a bit more sophisticated than the DSM IV – it is tailor made to specifically look at problem gambling.

The problem then with comparing other countries’ published statistics on problem gambling is that there is no standard methodology – and even the statistics between the DSM IV and the PGSI were about 0.2 percent different.