Abstract
Safer gambling messages are a common public health intervention for gambling, and yet there is little evidence to support the variety of messages that are in widespread use. This paper thematically analyzed the perspectives of 21 participants – including academics, regulators and treatment providers – regarding the design characteristics of safer-gambling messages with the goal to improve on those already being used. The focus groups were semi-structured and discussed exemplar messages based on five areas of previous gambling research: teaching safer gambling practices, correcting gambling misperceptions, boosting conscious decision making, norm-based messages, and emotional messages. Five themes were supported by the three focus groups, including that messages: may be insufficient to change behavior; should respect the diversity amongst gamblers; should not contribute to gambling stigma; should provide norm-based information thoughtfully; and should trigger only positive and not negative emotions. These findings can be useful in developing messages that are based on themes endorsed by experts as being relevant to the design of effective safer-gambling messages. Generating a pool of messages that are evidence based is likely to improve on current messages, thus serving as a useful public health tool for promoting safer-gambling involvement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Addiction Research and Theory |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Nov 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Philip Newall is a member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling – an advisory group of the Gambling Commission in Great Britain, and in 2020 was a special advisor to the House of Lords Select Committee Enquiry on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. In the last 3 years Philip Newall has contributed to research projects funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling, Clean Up Gambling, Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Philip Newall has received open access fee grant income from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario. In the last 3 years, Matthew Rockloff has received funding from Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, NSW Liquor and Gaming, The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, The New Zealand Ministry of Health and the South Australian Office for Problem Gambling. In the last 3 years, Matthew Browne has received research funding from the Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, NSW Liquor and Gaming, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, and the South Australian Office for Problem Gambling. In the last 3 years, Hannah Thorne has received research funding from Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, and Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. In the last 3 years, Nerilee Hing has received research funding from the Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, NSW Liquor and Gaming, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, South Australian Office for Problem Gambling, Australia’s National Research Organization for Women’s Safety, and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. In the last 3 years, Alex Russell has received research funding from Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, NSW Liquor and Gaming, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, South Australian Office for Problem Gambling, and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. In the last 3 years, Tess Armstrong has received research funding from Gambling Research Australia, and the NSW Responsible Gambling Fund.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'How do academics, regulators, and treatment providers think that safer gambling messages can be improved?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver