Region & Target Population
- Region: Great Britain
- Target population: Young people aged 16–26, with a substantial 18–25 emerging-adult sub-group
Study Design
- Online, non-probability longitudinal survey
- Two-wave repeated-measures design allowing prospective assessment of product-specific risk
Sample Characteristics (with data-collection years)
- Wave 1 (2019): N = 3,549 (ages 16–24)
- Wave 2 (2020): N = 2,080 followed up (ages 17–26)
- Gender: Men and women included
Data Collection Timeline
- Wave 1: June–August 2019
- Wave 2: July–October 2020
- Follow-up interval: approximately 12 months
Measures Used
- Problem gambling: Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)
- Gambling products: Past-year participation in 19 gambling and gambling-like activities, including online/offline sports betting, online casino games, slots, FOBT-style machines, lotteries, scratchcards, skin betting, and loot boxes
- Covariates: Sociodemographic, impulsivity (Eysenck scale), breadth of gambling involvement
Research Questions
- Which specific gambling products prospectively predict higher problem-gambling severity among emerging adults?
- Do these product-specific associations persist after controlling for overall gambling involvement and individual risk factors?
Key Findings
- Breadth of gambling involvement accounted for a substantial portion of gambling harm, confirming that engaging in many products increases risk.
- However, product choice independently mattered: several products predicted higher future PGSI scores even after controlling for involvement and impulsivity.
- Products consistently associated with elevated future harm included skin betting, FOBT-style machines, slots/fruit machines, and online betting on horse/dog races and non-sports events.
- Risk associated with online casino products strengthened between waves, suggesting cumulative or accelerating harm with continued exposure.
Study Conclusion
The authors conclude that gambling harm in emerging adulthood is unevenly distributed across products. While overall gambling involvement increases risk, certain fast, continuous, and digitally accessible products exert independent and compounding effects on harm trajectories. The findings underscore the importance of product-specific regulation, particularly for high-intensity formats that are especially attractive to young adults.
