Surprising Studies That Disprove Gambling Addiction Arguments

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Monday, May 8th, 2017 | Written by Stephen Smith

Even though the gambling industry is changing rapidly with casinos more and more focused on overall entertainment rather than just filling their floors with players, opponents to gambling continue to make the same arguments against legalizing the industry. This same situation applies equally to the online gambling industry, but three particular studies show that these arguments aren’t just tired, but may not be grounded in fact at all.

The Harvard Study

In 2011, a research team led by addiction expert Howard Schaffer examined problem gambling in the hope of determining whether or not increased access to online gambling led to a rise in the overall level of gambling addiction. Schaffer and his team fully expected to see a connection, which is why the team were shocked to find that introducing online gambling to a new market did not lead to major increases in the rates of gambling addiction at all. Instead, the team found that individuals who did struggle with online gambling addiction often had other addictive behaviors before they even began to play online, suggesting that more readily available gambling was not the cause of their problems.

As Howard Shaffer and Ryan Martin concluded in their online gambling addiction paper back in 2011, “contrary to predictions derived from the exposure model, the prevalence of PG (pathological gambling) has remained stable or been influenced by adaptation during the past 35 years despite an unprecedented increase in opportunities and access to gambling.”

University of Buffalo Study

In 2017, the University of Buffalo shared the findings of a study which it conducted using funds supplied by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The researchers examined gambling addiction data over the last decade, looking for correlations between increased access to gambling and the rates of gambling addiction.

After careful analysis, the team concluded that although access to gambling increased significantly over the last 10 years, gambling addiction rates remain flat. Although the team posited that negative economic factors may have been partially responsible for these statistics, they also said that it’s possible that people adapt quickly to having increased access to gambling, and correct any problem behavior on their own before it can lead to addiction. As Dr. John Welte concluded at the time:

“It may be due to the economic downturn we experienced starting in 2008, which resulted in a decline in casino business. It also could be due to the ‘theory of adaptation’ — that while initial increases in exposure to gambling venues lead to increases in rates of problem gambling, a population will eventually adapt and further negative consequences will not continue.”

UK Committees of Advertising Practice

The United Kingdom Committees of Advertising Practice released the results of its own study on gambling earlier this year. Unlike the other two studies which focused on gambling access and addiction rates, this project was focused on how advertising for online gambling and casinos websites affected young people. Their mission was to find out if such ads caused children and young adults to develop gambling addiction problems or to play illegally.

After examining the data, the researchers concluded that an increase in gambling ads had no effect on the rates of gambling participation and addiction amongst minors. In fact, the study found that overall the rates of minors gambling at all were low before and after the United Kingdom expanded its gambling advertising laws, which mirrored the results of those studies already mentioned by both Harvard and the University of Buffalo. As an extract from the study explains:

“Problem gambling rates and participation rates among children and young people have both been at worst stable during a period of unprecedented growth in gambling advertising. The impact of gambling advertising, both on the propensity toward problem gambling and underage participation, is limited.”

Conclusion

When you consider these three studies together, it is clear that opponents to gambling expansion need a reality check. Furthermore, numerous other studies by professional educational centers have reached similar conclusions, which should all be taken seriously by all those anti-online gambling advocates who continue to use minors and gambling addiction as their biggest objections to giving more people the right to gamble legally.