Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

GAMBLING STUDIES

Banking transactions and gambling harms

Nature Human Behaviour volume 5, pages 303–304 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

To date, studies of gambling harms have been limited by reliance on small samples and self-reports of behaviour. Analysis of banking transactions provides unique insights into the scope and sequencing of gambling harms at the individual and population levels, with implications for gambling policy, regulation, and harm minimization.

In the past decade, a new view of the impacts of gambling has shifted the focus from problem gambling to ‘gambling-related harms’. The new study in Nature Human Behaviour by Muggleton and colleagues1 is a novel and innovative approach to assessing gambling harms. This study represents a real leap in helping us understand gambling harms that will influence thinking in the gambling studies field and beyond.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Muggleton, N. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01045-w (2020).

  2. Browne, M. et al. Assessing gambling-related harm in Victoria: a public health perspective. https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/51519 (Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, 2017).

  3. Nelson, S. E. et al. J. Gambl. Stud. 35, 181–204 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rodriguez-Monguio, R., Brand, E. & Volberg, R. A. J. Addict. Med. 12, 53–60 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lorains, F. K., Cowlishaw, S. & Thomas, S. A. Addiction 106, 490–498 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Black, D. W., Shaw, M., McCormick, B. & Allen, J. Compr. Psychiatry 54, 97–104 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kourgiantakis, M. C., Saint-Jacques, M.-C. & Tremblay, J. J. Soc. Work Pract. Addict. 13, 353–372 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Williams, R.J. et al. Quinte longitudinal study of gambling and problem gambling. http://opus.uleth.ca/handle/10133/3641 (Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, 2015).

  9. Williams, R.J., Zorn, M., Stanek, E.J., Evans, V. & Volberg, R.A. Massachusetts Gambling Impact Cohort (MAGIC): transitions across four waves. https://www.umass.edu/seigma/sites/default/files/MAGIC%20Waves%201-4%20Transitions%20Report_Final.pdf (School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2020).

  10. Currie, S. R., Low Risk Gambling Guidelines Scientific Working Group. Health Promot. Int. 34, 1207–1217 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Rachel A. Volberg

Authors
  1. Rachel A. Volberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel A. Volberg.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Volberg, R.A. Banking transactions and gambling harms. Nat Hum Behav 5, 303–304 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01052-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01052-5

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing