Region & Target Population
- Region: Finland (nationwide, Mainland Finland)
- Target population: Adults aged 18–74 who had gambled in the past 12 months
Study Design
- Population-based cross-sectional survey
- Secondary analysis of the Finnish Gambling 2019 study
- Uses multinomial logistic regression to compare gambling modes while controlling for socio-demographics, gambling involvement, settings, and addictive behaviors
Sample Characteristics (with data-collection years)
- Total analytic sample: N = 3,077 past-year gamblers aged 18–74
- Sampling frame: National population register; CATI interviews
- Data collection period: September–December 2019
- Age groups analyzed: 18–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74
- Gender: Men and women; men over-represented in online and multimode gambling
Gambling-Mode Structure & Comparison Logic
The study explicitly distinguishes three gambling modes:
- Land-based only gambling (reference group)
- Online only gambling
- Multimode gambling (both online and land-based)
Analytical logic focuses on whether mode of access represents a meaningful risk dimension over and above:
- Gambling frequency
- Number of game types played
- Gambling expenditure
- Number of gambling settings
- Addictive behaviors (problem gambling, risky alcohol use)
Measures Used
- Gambling mode: Derived from detailed questions on game type and mode of access
- Gambling participation:
- Number of game types (1, 2, 3, ≥4)
- Overall gambling frequency
- Self-reported expenditure (quartiles)
- Gambling settings: Home, work, daily-life spaces (e.g., grocery stores), leisure spaces, gambling venues
- Problem gambling: South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS)
- Risky alcohol consumption: AUDIT-C
- Socio-demographics: Age, gender, income, employment status71
Research Questions
- How do land-based, online, and multimode gamblers differ in socio-demographics?
- Are gambling frequency, versatility, expenditure, and settings associated with specific gambling modes?
- Are online or multimode gamblers more likely to exhibit problem gambling or other addictive behaviors once involvement is controlled?
Key Findings
Age and emerging adulthood
- Younger adults (18–34) were significantly more likely to be multimode gamblers than older adults.
- Among 18–24-year-olds, 39% were multimode gamblers, compared with only 11% among those aged 65–74.
Intensity vs. versatility
- Online gambling was associated with higher intensity:
- More frequent gambling
- Higher spending
- Multimode gambling was associated with greater versatility:
- Playing ≥4 game types
- Gambling in multiple settings
- Very high expenditure
Product and setting ecology
- Land-based gambling dominated in convenience locations (grocery stores, kiosks), which in Finland are heavily saturated with EGMs.
- Multimode gambling clustered around casinos, gambling arcades, and leisure venues, indicating broader exposure to high-risk products.
Addictive behaviors
- Contrary to expectations, problem gambling (SOGS) was not independently associated with gambling mode once frequency, expenditure, and versatility were controlled.
- Authors argue this reflects the Finnish context, where land-based EGM gambling is already highly harmful, potentially obscuring additional risk from online or multimode access.
Study Conclusion
The authors conclude that gambling mode is an important structural dimension of gambling behavior, particularly for younger adults, but that its relationship to harm is context dependent. Online gambling in Finland is characterized by greater intensity, while multimode gambling reflects high versatility and environmental exposure across products and settings. However, because Finnish land-based gambling, especially EGMs in everyday locations, is already highly harmful, differences in problem gambling severity between modes are less pronounced than in other jurisdictions.
For emerging adults, the study highlights that risk does not arise from a single channel alone, but from how online, land-based, and multimode access combine with product mix, spending, and availability. The authors argue that public-health and regulatory frameworks should treat gambling modes as distinct but interacting risk environments, rather than assuming online gambling is universally more harmful than land-based play.
