In the latest of three online gambling surveys conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, monthly gamblers in Massachusetts reported an increase in gambling intensity and gambling harms. In addition, their attitudes toward gambling have grown more negative. The online surveys – conducted in 2014, 2022 and 2023 – can't be generalized to the overall population but give the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) research team a picture of changing behaviors and attitudes over time among regular gamblers, defined as those who gamble monthly or more frequently.
Gambling behavior expert Rachel Volberg, SEIGMA's principal investigator and research professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, reported the findings today, Aug. 29, to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Among monthly gamblers in the online surveys, those experiencing gambling problems jumped from 12.
7% in 2014 to 20.9% in 2022 to 25.6% in 2023.
This compares to a 2% prevalence of problem gambling that held steady in general population surveys conducted before and after casinos were introduced in Massachusetts. "It's pretty startling, to be honest," Volberg says. "While the online panels were not representative of the population, they were very informative in regards to people with gambling difficulties.
It's very helpful from a surveillance and monitoring perspective." The survey found increases among monthly gamblers in the online panels in lo.