Association between gambling behaviors, venues, legality, and substance use among gamblers in Israel

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to an increase in gambling behaviors, potentially leading to Gambling Disorder (GD) and adverse health and social consequences. Problematic gambling has received little research attention over the years in Israeli society and the issue of gambling is not high on the list of priorities of Israeli policymakers. The present study examined gambling behavior in Israel on a continuum of severity and its association with venues, legality, attitudes toward the legalization of casinos and poker, and substance use.

Methods: From 3,088 Israeli adults who answered the questionnaire, 1,251 (40.5%) reported gambling in the last year and were included in the analyses.

Results: Based on the Problem Gambling Severity Index, 60% of participants were classified as non-problem gamblers, 25% as low-risk, 11% as moderate risk, and 4% as having a gambling problems. Most online gambling was practiced by non-problem gamblers (40%) and most illegal gambling was by low-risk gamblers (34%). The more severe the gambling behavior was on the continuum, the more significantly it was associated with illegal substance use and positive attitudes toward legalized casinos in Israel. Logistic regression showed the odds of developing moderate and problem gambling were 3.8 times higher for online gamblers (OR = 3.8; CI 2.6–5.4; p < 0.000) and 3.3 times higher for illegal gamblers (OR = 3.3; CI 2.2–4.9; p < 0.000).

Conclusion:  The present study provides evidence-based to promote health policy in the context of prevention and harm reduction interventions for Israeli gamblers. More research attention should be paid and harm reduction gambling interventions made available to all categories on the continuum of severity

Speakers

Bonny-Noach

Hagit

Senior Lecturer & Board Member of ILSAM- The Israeli Society of Addiction Medicine

Ariel University

Presentation files

Type

e-short communication

Part of session

e-short communication session day 1