Mobile populations form an increasingly important part of many communities, yet tend to be neglected by problem gambling prevalence research. We explore relationships between problem gambling and the ways in which mobile subgroups use gambling venues. Adopting a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques, we conduct an exploratory examination of three subgroups – construction workers, ‘grey nomads’, and ‘southerner’ tourists on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. The groups displayed substantial differences in venue visitation, gambling behaviour and problem gambling risk. The group with the least discretionary mobility, the construction workers, were most heavily dependent on gambling venues for economic and social relationships. This translated into higher levels of problem gambling risk, which was further mediated by the inter-personal connectedness of individuals. These results suggest that mobility per se does not directly result in higher risk of problem gambling but combines with social isolation to place individuals at risk.
Journal article
‘Mobile mindsets’: EGM venue usage, gambling participation, and problem gambling among three itinerant groups on the Sunshine Coast of Australia
International Gambling Studies, Vol.10(3), pp.269-288
2010
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Abstract
Details
- Title
- ‘Mobile mindsets’: EGM venue usage, gambling participation, and problem gambling among three itinerant groups on the Sunshine Coast of Australia
- Creators
- Bruce Doran - Australian National UniversityMartin Young - Charles Darwin University
- Publication Details
- International Gambling Studies, Vol.10(3), pp.269-288
- Identifiers
- 1559; 991012821238302368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education; School of Business and Tourism; Centre for Gambling Education and Research; Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Resource Type
- Journal article