Nearby casinos may increase risk for residents, so it is important to understand the impacts of casino location. The Pathways Model suggests that increased availability and accessibility of gambling is a factor in the development of gambling-related problems. Previous research has also suggested that convenience of access influences people’s behaviour. Specifically, access convenience is defined as the time and effort that people feel they need to exert to initiate a consumption behaviour. In this study, the researchers examined whether increased access convenience is linked with frequency of play and gambling disorder. The researchers analyzed data from 6,234 adults who actively gambled from Canada. They estimated access convenience as the travel time between participants’ homes and their nearest casino. The researchers found that the risk of gambling problems increased for people who lived closer to casinos. But this risk was mediated by the frequency of visits. This means that the impact of access convenience on gambling problems is determined by how frequently people visit the casino.
