UKGC debuts new gambling harm framework

The Gambling Commission has launched a new framework to understand gambling harm, as part of its new National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, which launched in April.

The framework was showcased in a report developed by Ipsos MORI in conjunction with the UKGC, Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and GambleAware and has been specifically developed for children and young people as “key aspects of their lives differ from adults which affects the ways in which they are likely to experience harm from gambling.”

Its research is based on feedback from a workshop of individuals working with young people in relation to gambling and four focus groups speaking to young people aged 13-18. Potential harms are divided into four main domains: financial, development, relationships and health, each with their own individual sub-domains relating to a specific area.

The next phase of work will see the inclusion of survey questions for measuring gambling harms on the Ipsos MORI’s Young Person’s Omnibus survey, where data gleaned from these questions will be analysed to explore which questions are the most and least effective.

Speaking about the potential initial questions, Margaret Blake, lead researcher at Ipsos MORI, said they are intended to explore the entire range of harms that can be experienced from gambling, even where it would not be classified as problem gambling.

“This work is just a starting point and we anticipate that the framework and measures will develop in the future,” Blake added.

Helen Rhodes, UKGC programme director for safer gambling, highlighted understanding the impact of gambling on children as being a key priority for the Gambling Commission during 2019.

“This newly-released framework will provide critical insight into the range of harms that young people in Britain can experience and will help greatly in concentrating the National Strategy’s prevention and education initiatives where they will have the most impact,” Rhodes added.