Addiction prediction

Addiction prediction
by Emma Schmidt
THREE-QUARTERS of Monash’s problem gamblers will still be fighting their addiction in future years, new research reveals.

And almost six per cent of gamblers will have increased their risk of becoming gambling addicts.

The Department of Justice’s Victorian Gambling Study: A Longitudinal Study of Gambling and Public Health - Wave Two Findings revealed sobering figures for Monash, which is consistently the second-highest spending municipality on poker machines in the state according to Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation statistics.

The study recorded gambling behaviours, health and well being of 5000 participants over three years.

It found gambling behaviours for 10 per cent of participants were not static, instead, moved between the categories of non-gambler, non-problem gambler, low-risk gambler, moderate-risk gambler or problem gambler. Researchers also found several factors were associated with an overall increase in risk category, including:

POOR general and mental health;

ONE parent families, speaking a language other than English at home;

AN education level at year 10 or lower;

TROUBLE at work; and

BETTING weekly or more on the horses, harness racing or the greyhounds.

Monash University Associate Professor Damien Jolley said the study gave further weight to the call for mandatory spending limits on poker machines, and said gambling was “exploiting the marginalised in our community”.

“I would certainly advocate for mandatory spending limits,” Prof Jolley said.

Gamblers Help Eastern community educator Diane Jenkins praised the study for providing behavioural information about gamblers.