Research Identifies Gambling Risk Factors For Pacific Youth

AUT News

A new report reveals that Pacific youth are more than twice as likely to gamble if they’ve experienced bullying or been involved with gangs.

Funded by the Ministry of Health, the research is part of the longitudinal Pacific Islands Families (PIF) Study conducted by AUT. The PIF study investigated the extent of gambling and problem gambling among Pacific mothers and youth, and the possible risk factors involved.

The study found over half of Pacific 14-year olds had gambled at least once, while one-in-27 were problem gamblers. It also identified
bullying and gang involvement as the two most significant risk factors associated with Pacific youth gambling.

“We now need to ensure interventions follow that minimise the risk of gambling involvement,” says Dr El-Shadan Tautolo, director of the
PIF Study.

“Working to reduce the appeal of gang affiliation and providing effective support to youth who have been bullied, so they don’t turn
to harmful behaviours like gambling, are natural starting points.” Having a mother who gambled was also a risk factor.

Dr Maria Bellringer, lead author of the report and associate director of AUT’s Gambling and Addictions Research Centre, says: “Mothers’
gambling behaviours influence those of their children, so adult education and public health campaigns are vital to stem the negative effects of gambling and its transfer across generations.”

For Pacific mothers, having low alignment with New Zealand culture while retaining high Pacific culture was associated with risky gambling behaviour. According to Dr Tautolo, this suggests the need for better support, particularly for those recently settled in New Zealand.

“We need to put measures in place to support people to retain or strengthen their Pacific culture while building a sense of connection
to New Zealand culture and society – as this helps build resilience to acculturative stressors and enables people to adapt well,” he says.

Dr Tautolo is equally mindful of the intergenerational implications across families and says the consequences for the wider Pacific community could be enormous.

“This strategy needs to consider, among other things, the importance of advocacy, workforce development and health promotion, as key areas to address this problem.”

For confidential help or advice with problematic gambling contact the Gambling Helpline – Phone 0800 654 655 (or) Txt: 8006.


Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Perspective

Prof. Max Abbott, CNZM
Pro Vice-Chancellor, AUT North Campus

The accompanying story focuses on gambling among Pacific Island children and mothers. Colleagues and I recently released another report based on the fourth wave of the National Gambling Study, which involves annual interviews with around 3,000 adults. The main finding was that while overall gambling participation dropped, problem gambling levels did not change.

Additionally, Māori and Pacific people continued to experience very high levels of gambling-related harm. This is of major concern as other research shows gambling-related harm outweighs harm from illicit drug use and nears that associated with alcohol misuse and major depression.

Although gambling participation has been declining for 20 years, problem gambling rates have plateaued since 2000. Why has gambling-related harm been resistant to change despite a decrease in electronic gaming machines (EGMs) and a marked reduction in gambling participation?

This question has challenged me for years. Our research strongly suggests that part of the reason is the relapse of previous problem gamblers, accounting for well over half of people who developed a problem during the past 12 months. A large ‘reservoir’ of previous problem gamblers has accumulated since gambling availability increased and many continue to be ‘recycled’.

Further strong predictors of problem gambling onset are frequent participation in EGMs in pubs, clubs and casinos, and other continuous forms of gambling. Māori and Pacific people are also at high risk, as are people who experience major life events, higher levels of deprivation and psychological distress. It is likely that harm levels are plateauing because first-time problem gamblers from these high-risk groups, and from high deprivation communities where EGMs and TABs remain heavily concentrated, are joining the pool of relapsing ‘past problem’ gamblers.

Paradoxically, some high-risk groups have low participation rates. Many Pacific people don’t gamble but around one-in-five of those who do, experience at least one indicator of loss of control and/or harm. Other low participation groups include youth, Asian populations, recent migrants and members of some religious groups, all partly at higher risk because they are coming into close contact with more ‘potent’ forms of gambling for the first time.

The most promising strategies to reduce gambling harms include removing EGMs from vulnerable communities, enhancing relapse prevention programmes and addressing other contributing factors, including economic and social disparities, educational attainment, housing and employment. Progress on these fronts can be expected to reduce mental health and addiction disorders generally, as well as harm more directly linked to gambling.


Issue 91 September 2018