The unhappiness of problem gamblers

Recent research by economists has found that poor mental health is an important contributor to low happiness. This paper focuses on one particular mental condition, gambling disorder. Modelling reveals that problem gamblers typically exhibit exceptionally low well-being even in the presence of rich controls for life-circumstances. There is a similarly strong association between low well-being and ‘at-risk’ problem gambling (those with a screen score close to but not over the threshold for official classification as a problem gambler), particularly for women. Those with a relative with a problem also tend to exhibit significantly lower well-being relative to their life-circumstances. All these findings suggest that (i) significant expenditure on identifying problem gamblers and on therapy for individuals who test positive for ‘problem gambling’ would be justified and (ii) thresholds used to estimate numbers of ‘problem gamblers’ may be conservatively high, implying underestimation of the number of people affected by gambling disorder. Finally, particularly for men, gamblers with no signs of a gambling problem tend to report modestly elevated well-being, again controlling for life-circumstances. The negative association between wellbeing and problem gambling and the positive association between wellbeing and responsible gambling are not evidence of causation in either case (no obvious instruments for gambling presented themselves in a country with little spatial variation in gambling opportunities). Nevertheless the findings are consistent with and support recent official statements in Britain that regulation should have as its starting point that "gambling benefits many people by a little and hurts a few people by a lot".