The Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) National Project was a three-year longitudinal study conducted by a multi-institute research team based at AGRI. The aim of the study was to capture a nation-wide picture of gambling and problem gambling in Canada. This research extended the AGRI National Project Online Panel Study with two additional waves of data collection to examine the impact of COVID-19 on gambling. The first wave of data involved participants who were re-recruited from the AGRI National Study Online Panel and was conducted May 14th to June 1st, 2020. The second wave of data involved new participants and some of those who participated in Wave 1, and was conducted December 1st to 20th, 2020. The second wave of data was used to determine what changes related to the pandemic lockdown were enduring. A sample of 3,449 (Wave 1) and 2,790 (Wave 2) participants were recruited, with each province of Canada represented.
The data contains gambling-specific information including:
- Presence and degree of problem gambling
- Gambling attitudes and beliefs in gambling fallacies
- Gambling participation
- Gambling context and social exposure
- Knowledge and use of gambling harm minimization
- Family history of problem gambling
The data also contains more general information including:
- Psychological factors (personality, mental health)
- Comorbid factors (behavioural addictions, substance use, PTSD)
- History with COVID-19
