The Victorian gambling study: technical report - part three

A series of secondary analyses were undertaken from The Victorian Gambling Study- A longitudinal study of gambling and health 2008-2012 (The Victorian Gambling Study). This paper is the third of a series of technical reports. The focus of this paper is on the interplay between social determinants, trauma and life events, social capital, and the level of gambling problems (PGSI score) in gamblers. Non-gamblers were excluded from the analysis. The purpose was to investigate a range of possible determinants (for example – trauma in life and upbringing, stressful life events, social capital and sociodemographics) to indicate which showed the strongest association with levels of gambling problems.

The analysis is underpinned by a public health approach which views problem gambling as part of a gambling continuum and explores the broader personal, social, economic and environmental as well as biological determinants of gambling problems.

This multivariate analysis investigated which characteristics of the determinants were associated with an increase (more gambling problems) or a decrease (less gambling problems) in the PGSI score, having taken into account other important determinants. Determinants that best explain the level of gambling problems are identified as well as the size of the effect of different characteristics.

Models were developed with logical groupings of determinants before the final model was developed. The logical groupings included:

• Socio-demographics multivariate model
  
• Trauma and life events multivariate model
  
• Social capital multivariate model
  
• Final trauma and social capital multivariate model
  

Overall lifetime trauma and life events showed the strongest relationship with gambling problems. The

social capital measures showed a moderate relationship and the socio-demographic determinants the

weakest relationship with gambling problems.