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Disordered Gambling Prevalence: Methodological Innovations in a General Danish Population Survey

Harrison, G.W.; Jessen, L.J.; Lau, M.; Ross, D.

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Authors

G.W. Harrison

L.J. Jessen

D. Ross



Abstract

We study Danish adult gambling behavior with an emphasis on discovering patterns relevant to public health forecasting and economic welfare assessment of policy. Methodological innovations include measurement of formative in addition to reflective constructs, estimation of prospective risk for developing gambling disorder rather than risk of being falsely negatively diagnosed, analysis with attention to sample weights and correction for sample selection bias, estimation of the impact of trigger questions on prevalence estimates and sample characteristics, and distinguishing between total and marginal effects of risk-indicating factors. The most significant novelty in our design is that nobody was excluded on the basis of their response to a ‘trigger’ or ‘gateway’ question about previous gambling history. Our sample consists of 8405 adult Danes. We administered the Focal Adult Gambling Screen to all subjects and estimate prospective risk for disordered gambling. We find that 87.6% of the population is indicated for no detectable risk, 5.4% is indicated for early risk, 1.7% is indicated for intermediate risk, 2.6% is indicated for advanced risk, and 2.6% is indicated for disordered gambling. Correcting for sample weights and controlling for sample selection has a significant effect on prevalence rates. Although these estimates of the ‘at risk’ fraction of the population are significantly higher than conventionally reported, we infer a significant decrease in overall prevalence rates of detectable risk with these corrections, since gambling behavior is positively correlated with the decision to participate in gambling surveys. We also find that imposing a threshold gambling history leads to underestimation of the prevalence of gambling problems.

Citation

Harrison, G., Jessen, L., Lau, M., & Ross, D. (2018). Disordered Gambling Prevalence: Methodological Innovations in a General Danish Population Survey. Journal of Gambling Studies, 34(1), 225-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9707-1

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 3, 2017
Online Publication Date Jul 13, 2017
Publication Date Mar 1, 2018
Deposit Date Jul 12, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Gambling Studies
Print ISSN 1050-5350
Electronic ISSN 1573-3602
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 34
Issue 1
Pages 225-253
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9707-1
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1353452

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