GAMBLING AND PROBLEM GAMBLING AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN ONTARIO November 2004 Jamie Wiebe Eric Single* Agata Falkowski-Ham Phil Mun Responsible Gambling Council *Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse i TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................i LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3 DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................4 Sampling Strategy ............................................................................................................................4 Table 2.1: Sample Description...................................................................................................4 Data Collection.................................................................................................................................5 Measurement Instrument and Gambling Classification...................................................................5 Table 2.2: CPGI Scoring and Labels..........................................................................................6 Analytical Strategy...........................................................................................................................6 Study Limitations .............................................................................................................................7 GAMBLING PREVALENCE AND PATTERNS IN ONTARIO .............................................7 Gambling Activities .........................................................................................................................7 Table 3.1: Frequency of participation in gambling activities.....................................................8 Table 3.2: Gambling activities by median amount of money spent, won, and lost in past year 9 Characteristics of persons engaging in different types of gambling ................................................9 Gambling tickets ............................................................................................................................10 Table 3.3: Buying gambling tickets by demographic characteristics.......................................10 Electronic games ............................................................................................................................11 Table 3.4: Betting on slots/VLTs in and out of casinos, casino table games, and casinos out of the province by demographic characteristics.......................................................................11 Casinos ...........................................................................................................................................12 Table 3.5: Gambling at casinos by demographic characteristics .............................................13 Gambling with friends or family....................................................................................................13 Table 3.6: Gambling with friends by demographic characteristics.........................................14 Bingo ..............................................................................................................................................14 Table 3.7: Bingo playing by demographic characteristics .......................................................15 Betting on sporting events..............................................................................................................16 Table 3.8: Betting on the outcome of sporting events, Sport Select, and sports with bookie by demographic characteristics .....................................................................................................16 Speculative investments .................................................................................................................17 Table 3.9: Making speculative investments by demographic characteristics ..........................17 Perceived benefits and reasons for gambling.................................................................................18 Table 3.10: Perceived benefits of gambling.............................................................................18 Table 3.11: Benefits of gambling by demographic characteristics (excluding non-gamblers)20 Table 3.12: Reasons for going to a casino among those who visited a casino in the past year22 Summary ........................................................................................................................................22 PROBLEM GAMBLING IN ONTARIO ..................................................................................23 CPGI Levels ...................................................................................................................................24 Figure 1: Gambling Levels.......................................................................................................24 Endorsement of CPGI items for at-risk and moderate/severe problem gamblers..........................24 Table 4.1: Endorsement of CPGI scale items for at-risk and moderate/severe gamblers........25 Gambling activities ........................................................................................................................25 ii Table 4.2: Gambling activities by CPGI levels........................................................................26 Money and time spent ....................................................................................................................27 Perceived benefits of gambling and reasons for going to casino ...................................................28 Table 4.3: Perceived benefits of gambling by gambler............................................................28 Table 4.4: Gamblers’ reasons for going to a casino among those who visited........................29 a casino in the past year............................................................................................................29 Beliefs and attitudes of gamblers ...................................................................................................29 Table 4.5: Gamblers who believed in the following inaccurate gambling statements.............29 Early gambling experience.............................................................................................................29 Table 4.6: Percentage of gamblers who remembered first big win/loss by CPGI level ..........30 Summary ........................................................................................................................................30 SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF GAMBLERS IN ONTARIO...........................................................30 Socio-demographic characteristics of different types of gamblers ................................................30 Table 5.1: Socio-demographic characteristics by CPGI level..................................................31 Health and well-being ....................................................................................................................32 Table 5.2: Stress indicators by CPGI level ..............................................................................33 Alcohol and nicotine consumption and correlates .........................................................................33 Table 5.3: Alcohol and tobacco use by CPGI level .................................................................33 Table 5.4: Having a family member who ever had an alcohol or drug problem by CPGI level ..................................................................................................................................................34 Social support networks .................................................................................................................34 Table 5.5: To whom respondent would turn for help by CPGI level.......................................35 Awareness of gambling services....................................................................................................35 Table 5.6: Awareness of free gambling help services by CPGI level......................................35 Summary ........................................................................................................................................35 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................36 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................38 APPENDIX A: CONTACT SUMMARY...................................................................................40 APPENDIX B: CONSENT FORM.............................................................................................41 APPENDIX C: QUESTIONAIRRE...........................................................................................42 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Sample Description Table 2.2: CPGI