Gambling harm experienced by children exposed to parental gambling : An online survey of Australians

Journal article


Suomi, Aino, Lucas, Nina, Dowling, Nicki and Delfabbro, Paul. (2024). Gambling harm experienced by children exposed to parental gambling : An online survey of Australians. Journal of Gambling Studies. 40(1), pp. 181-200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-023-10211-4
AuthorsSuomi, Aino, Lucas, Nina, Dowling, Nicki and Delfabbro, Paul
Abstract

Although child wellbeing is known to be negatively affected by gambling, relatively little is known about the specific harms experienced by children exposed to parental gambling problems. The current study aimed to better understand gambling harm directly attributed to regular parental gambling in key areas of child wellbeing: financial, psychological, interpersonal wellbeing and intergenerational transmission of problem gambling. Using data from a national survey of Australian adults exposed to parental gambling under the age of 18 (n = 211), the results show that parental gambling was related significant levels of financial harm, abuse, neglect as well as relational and psychological problems as a direct result of parental gambling. The likelihood of experiencing gambling harms was positively associated with parental problem gambling severity. Harmful impacts of parental gambling as a child were also associated with a range of psychological problems in adulthood including depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and intimate partner violence victimisation. Parental problem gambling severity was negatively associated with own lifetime gambling problems, suggesting a specific pattern of intergenerational transmission of problem gambling in children of regular, or heavy, gamblers. This research highlights the need for more supports for families with children in which at least one parent gambles regularly.

Keywordsproblem gambling; gambling harm; child development; parenting ; child abuse and neglect; family wellbeing
Year01 Jan 2024
JournalJournal of Gambling Studies
Journal citation40 (1), pp. 181-200
PublisherSpringer New York LLC
ISSN1050-5350
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-023-10211-4
Web address (URL)https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-023-10211-4
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range181-200
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online07 May 2023
Publication process dates
Accepted22 Apr 2023
Deposited15 Oct 2024
Additional information

© The Author(s) 2023

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence,
and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright
holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Funding: We acknowledge the financial support for the study received from the Victorian
Responsible Gambling Foundation.

Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. This study
was funded by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation

Place of publicationUnited States
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https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/91024/gambling-harm-experienced-by-children-exposed-to-parental-gambling-an-online-survey-of-australians

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