What's New in
Gambling Research
January 2021 | Issue 6
Welcome
What’s New in Gambling Research profiles recently released research about gambling-related harm and problem gambling conducted in the UK and internationally. This issue also includes funding announcements, free upcoming online conferences, and the first phase of GREO's social network analysis of gambling harm research in Great Britain.

GREO's programme of activity to accelerate progress on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms in Great Britain includes widening the research evidence base and improving links between research and policy, as well as building the evaluation capacity of National Strategy stakeholders and partners. To learn more, see our 2019-2020 Impact Report and visit our website.

If you have information to share with the UK gambling research community, forward it to GREO for inclusion in an upcoming issue. We are also collecting feedback about this issue of What's New in Gambling Research through a short survey!
Academic Articles

See recently published articles to learn about the latest developments in gambling research. Also find links to GREO's two-page Research Snapshot summaries, which are approved by each article's primary author.
The researchers investigated whether parental gambling when children were age 6 would be associated with children’s problem gambling at age 20. The findings suggest that gambling problems can be passed from a parent to their child of the opposite gender.
Specialised Resources

See new resources that researchers and policy makers in Great Britain can use to inform projects. Specialised resources are some of the most current sources of information on gambling issues. They include research reports, policy reviews, government reports, and discussion papers.
Underlying the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms is the Framework of Harms, outlined in Measuring gambling-related harms: A framework for action. The Framework adopts a public health approach to address gambling-related harm in Great Britain across multiple levels of measurement. This report examines existing research expertise relevant to the Framework among academics based in the UK during the 12-year period from 2008 to 2019.

This report outlines several recommendations prior to the government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act in Great Britain. Importantly, it recognises the need to implement control measures for online gambling that exist for land-based gambling. The report advocates for increased market fairness, a culture of corporate and social responsibility for operators, and government departments working together.



Open Access Datasets

GREO houses three datasets associated with the RG Check responsible gambling accreditation programme developed by the Responsible Gambling Council. They include the RG Check accreditation scores, RG Check patron surveys and, most recently, the RG Check employee surveys.

The RG Check employee survey database was added to the GREO Dataverse in December 2020. As part of the accreditation process, employees voluntarily complete a questionnaire to assess their knowledge, awareness, and understanding of responsible gambling practices within land-based venues. Information is presented in two related datasets. The first covers the years 2011 to 2014 (N = 3,058), and the second, which uses a revised survey questionnaire, covers 2015-2020 (N = 5,204). The datasets have a range of information on responsible training and knowledge, the employee’s main area of responsibility within the casino, and previous experience providing responsible gambling support to patrons.
Call for evidence: Gambling Act Review  

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched the Gambling Act Review with the publication of a call for evidence into the Gambling Act 2005. The call for evidence will look at online restrictions, marketing, and the powers of the Gambling Commission as part of a major and wide-ranging review of gambling laws. The deadline to provide evidence is March 31, 2021.

Consultation: Change in the Gambling Commission’s gambling participation and problem gambling prevalence research methodology

The Gambling Commission is consulting to ensure all perspectives can be heard regarding the research methodology used to collect gambling participation and problem gambling statistics. The deadline to complete this survey is February 12, 2021.

Invitation to tender:
Evaluation of the credit card ban for gambling in Great Britain

As part of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, the Gambling Commission implemented a ban on the use of credit cards by gambling businesses in Great Britain, which came into effect on April 14, 2020. GREO is now accepting applications for the evaluation of this credit card ban.

Applicants must be based in Great Britain and funding must flow to an eligible institution in Great Britain, although collaborations with international partners will be considered. An award of up to £80,000 is available, proportionate to the scale of the project (inclusive of VAT and expenses). The deadline for expressions of interest is February 5, 2021.

Funding announcement for Open Access publications

Did you know that GREO provides support for Open Access publications? Free and open access to scholarly journal articles removes barriers to access and allows a larger audience to benefit from new research evidence.

Priority is given to meta-analyses, systematic literature reviews, and scoping reviews; manuscripts that directly address harm reduction; and, manuscripts that include policy implications for harm prevention, reduction, and/or mitigation. Authors must be affiliated with a UK institution. One award per year only can be held by a researcher or project group. The paper must have been accepted for publication or in the final review stage. Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2021. 
GREO’s funding for these projects is derived from regulatory settlements in lieu of financial penalties from operators in Great Britain. The Gambling Commission reviews and approves proposals for destinations of regulatory settlements. The monies represent a restricted payment to GREO to accelerate progress towards delivery of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.
Webinar: Lottery participation and impacts of COVID-19 among young people in the UK

In the UK, 16- to 24-year-olds consistently have one of the highest rates of problem gambling among adults. Dr. Sasha Stark and Dr. Heather Wardle have recently conducted studies to examine the intricacies of gambling among this age group. Join them in this webinar as they share new insights on how lottery participation is related to gambling problems among young people in Great Britain, and how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the gambling behaviours and problems of young people in the UK.
GambleAware Conference

This year’s GambleAware conference will focus on recent developments in the treatment of gambling harms and future priorities. It will explore the benefits of a multi-agency response and how this contributes to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms and to the National Health Service’s long-term planning. It will also consider gambling treatment issues in the context of the forthcoming review of the Gambling Act 2005 and in the development of an Addiction Strategy for the UK.

The virtual conference will take place January 28th, 2021. Registration is free.
AGRI Conference
Gambling in Canada – Current research and future directions

The 20th Alberta Gambling Research Institute IAGRI) conference this year focuses on Canadian gambling. It will feature the results of a three-year study of gambling in Canada, the AGRI National Project, as well as profile the major gambling-related research and policy initiatives that are occurring across the country.

The virtual event will take place April 27 to 29th, 2021. Registration is free (limited to 300).
Evidence Centre

Subscribe to the GREO Evidence Centre’s monthly content alert to be notified of the latest gambling research resources. You'll receive a list of links to all research summaries, reports, and datasets added to our digital repository, or choose topics of most interest.

Since GREO began supporting the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms in July 2019, 413 Research Snapshots and 128 specialised resources relevant to the Strategy have been published in the GREO Evidence Centre.
413
Research Snapshots

and

128
Specialised Resources
Note regarding COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic has now been shown to have a significant impact on how, why, and when people gamble. GREO is committed to curating and sharing the best available evidence to inform meaningful and responsive policy and practice across the gambling landscape. See GREO’s Resources for Safer Gambling during COVID-19 for emerging research and evidence related to online gambling behaviour and treatment, and more.

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