- Open Access
- Published:
Gambling in Asian Communities in Great Britain
Asian Journal of Gambling Issues and Public Health volume 2, pages2–16 (2011)
Abstract
This paper examines the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling among people of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi cultural backgrounds living in Great Britain. Information was gathered from the last two versions of a large-scale national adult prevalence survey and a similar survey of children aged 11 to 15 years, all conducted since 2007. Together, the surveys yielded sub-samples of 589 Asian adults and 482 Asian children from a combined total of more than 16,000 adults and nearly 9,000 children. In both adult and child Asian populations, the 7-day participation rate in gambling (22% and 13%, respectively) was found to be low relative to that in the white majority community, yet problem gambling prevalence, measured by the adult Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition screen (1.4%) and its juvenile equivalent (2.9%), was significantly higher, including among women. It therefore follows that those Asians who do gamble are unusually prone to experiencing problems, which has implications for public health policies such as the provision of information and help in minority languages. The relevance of the findings seems likely to extend to other countries with significantly sized Asian communities.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition, text revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Blinn-Pike, L., Worthy, S. L., & Jonkman, J. L. (2010). Adolescent gambling: a review of an emerging field of research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 223–236.
Fisher, S. (2000). Developing the DSM-IV criteria to identify adolescent gambling in nonclinical populations. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16, 253–273.
Forrest, D., & McHale, I. G. (2011). Problem gambling among young adolescents in Great Britain, discussion paper, University of Salford.
Griffiths, M. D. (2002). Gambling and gaming addictions in adolescence. Leicester: The British David Forrest & Heather Wardle Psychological Society and Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Griffiths, M. D. (2010). Asian national adolescent gambling surveys: methodological issues, protocol and advice. Asian Journal of Gambling Issues and Public Health, 1, 4–18.
Loo, J. M. Y., Raylu, N., & Oei, T. P. S. (2008). Gambling among the Chinese: A comprehensive review. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 157–178.
Mori, I. (2009). British survey of children, the National Lottery and Gambling: Report of a quantitative survey. London: The National Lottery Commission.
Office of National Statistics. (2011). Population estimates by ethnic group 2002–2009. Retrieved from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/eth0511.pdf
Orford, J., Griffiths, M., Wardle, H., Sproston, K., & Erens, B. (2009). Negative public attitudes towards gambling: findings from the 2007 British Gambling Prevalence Survey using a new attitude scale. International Gambling Studies, 9, 39–54.
Rao, J. N. K., & Scott, A. J. (1984). On chi-squared test for multiway contingency tables with cell proportions estimated from survey data. The Annals of Statistics, 12, 46–60.
Valentine, G. (2008). Literature review of children and young people’s gambling. Birmingham: The Gambling Commission.
Wardle, H., Sproston, K., Orford, J., Erens, B., Griffiths, M. D., Constantine, R., & Pigott, S. (2007). The British gambling prevalence survey 2007. London: The Stationery Office.
Wardle, H., Moody, A., Spence, S., Orford, J., Volberg, R., Jotangia, … Dobbie, F. (2011). British gambling prevalence survey 2010. London: The Stationery Office.
Wynne, H. J. (2003). Introducing the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Wynne Resources.
