Problem gambling is when a person cannot control how much they gamble even though they experience harmful effects from gambling. Gambling-related harms can include mental health issues, money problems, relationship troubles, poor job performance, and trouble with the law.
Health professionals and researchers often use problem gambling screens to measure gambling-related harms. Popular questionnaires, such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), have been developed to assess gambling behaviours and consequences. Based on their scores, gamblers are identified as a problem gambler, a low or moderate risk gambler, or a non-problem gambler. Although the questionnaires are useful for identifying people with serious gambling problems, there is no way to accurately assess the different types of harm someone experiences from gambling. Moreover, this approach implies that only those who score above a threshold are negatively affected by gambling and need treatment. It does not consider that non-problem gamblers can also experience harms.
To fill this gap in research, the researchers developed a questionnaire with a two-step method to measure gambling-related harms. They applied that method to map the harms experienced by problem and community gamblers and to identify which harms impact them the most.
