Suicidal Ideation Among Gambling Help-Seeking Individuals

Research Team

• Dr. Michelle L. Malkin (GRPI Director)
• Dr. Michele Stacey (GRPI Affiliated Faculty)
• Margaret Paul, M.S. (Doctoral Candidate (SLU)

Prior Research

About 40% of people diagnosed with Gambling Disorder report lifetime suicidal ideation, compared to 15.6% of the general population.¹ Little is known as to whether being in gambling addiction recovery may impact past year suicidal ideation.

Research Questions

• Do suicidal ideations differ between active gamblers and people in recovery?
• Among those seeking help for gambling, how do lifetimesuicidal ideations differ from past-year suicidal ideations?
• What factors appear most relevant to suicidal ideations foractive gamblers who are seeking help for gambling?

Methodology

• Participants must have sought help for gambling at any time in life in any way
• Snowball sample including individuals at a large international gambling recovery conference, email campaign, & shared by “well-meaning” others on social media
  • Issue with Bots: Utilize a variety of Qualtrics and other data accuracy methods to ensure inclusion of only valid responses while erring on side of exclusion
• Final sample size = 332 validated responses
• Measures included gambling behavior, gambling-related harms (BBGS), risk & severity (DSM-5)
• Chi-square, t-tests, logistic regressions

Gambling Behavior and GD Severity

• 51% gambled in the past-year (“active gamblers”) (N=170)
• 49% have not gambled in the past-year (“in recovery”) (N=152)
• 81% Self-Identify as “Problem Gamblers”
• There was no statistical difference in gender on whether individuals were active gamblers or in recovery

GD Severity

• 5% no to low risk
• 11% moderate GD
• 85% severe GD
• 81% of those who gambled in the past year scored as moderate to severe GD

Lifetime Suicidal Ideation (SI)

Nearly 38% of individuals reported lifetime suicidal ideation (SI)

Lifetime SI was almost twice the rate among women than men (53% women; 28% men; p<.001).

No significant difference in lifetime SI between individuals actively gambling (37.58%) and those in recovery (37.84%).

While no significant difference was indicated, nearly 20% of individuals actively gambling reported a lifetime suicide attempt compared to 14% of individuals in recovery.

Gambling Disorder severity is significantly related to lifetime SI:

• 85% Severe
• 10% Moderate
• 3% at risk
• less than 1% no risk

All lifetime SI had moderate to severe GD; lifetime SI not significantly related to BBGS risk

Past-Year SI

• There was not a significant gender difference in past-year SI (16% women; 9% men).
• Similarly, no significant difference in GD severity, however experiencing 1+ gambling-related harms is significant.
• Individuals with past year gambling (19.28%) were over 7x as likely to report past-year SI than individuals without past-year gambling (2.7%; p<0.001).

What differentiates those with past-year SI and those without SI who gambled in the past year?

The number of gambling-related harms experienced:

• No SI in past year = 2.4 average gambling-related harms
• SI in past year = 3.9 average gambling-related harm

For those that only reported having SI atone time only in their life, which occurred AFTER their self-perceived problem gambling, 95% scored as having severe GD.

So What?

1. Armoon et al., 2023; Battersby et al., 2006; Darbeda et al., 2020; Guillou-Landreat et al., 2016; Håkansson & Karlsson, 2020; Haydock et al., 2015; Hodgins et al., 2006; Hubert et al., 2018; Jolly et al., 2021; Karlsson &Håkansson, 2018; Kristensen et al., 2023; Ledgerwood et al., 2005, 2014; Ledgerwood & Petry, 2004; Lee et al., 2021; Metcalf et al., 2023; Pavarin et al., 2022; Petry & Kiluk, 2002; Roberts et al., 2017; Ronzitti et al., 2017;stauhny et al., 2023; Wardle et al., 2019; Valenciano-Mendoza et al., 2021, 2023; Wong et al., 2014)