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Using “Markers of Harm” to Track Risky Gambling in Two Cohorts of Online Sports Bettors

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Abstract

Online gambling poses novel risks for problem gambling, but also unique opportunities to detect and intervene with at-risk users. A consortium of gambling companies recently committed to using nine behavioral "Markers of Harm'' that can be calculated with online user data to estimate risk for gambling-related harm. The current study evaluates these markers in two independent samples of sports bettors, collected ten years apart. We find over a two-year period that most users never had high enough overall risk scores to indicate that they would have received an intervention. This observation is partly due to characteristics of our samples that are associated with lower risk for gambling-related harm, but might also be due to overly high risk thresholds or flaws in the design of some markers. Users with higher average risk scores had more intraindividual variability in risk scores. Younger age and male gender were not associated with higher average risk scores. The most active users were more likely than other users to have ever exceeded risk thresholds. Several risk scores significantly predicted proxies of gambling-related harm (e.g., account closure). Overall, the current Markers of Harm system has some correctable limitations that future risk detection systems should consider adopting.

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Notes

  1. We pre-registered the use of false discovery rate corrections when inferring statistical significance, but we abandoned that plan because we realized we did not have a concrete plan for how we would implement them among the many subsets of tests that we conducted. Furthermore, some models did not converge to proper solutions, which would have affected how many test results factored into the corrections.

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Funding

This research was supported primarily by a research contract between the Division on Addiction and GVC Holdings PLC (hereafter, GVC). GVC is a large international gambling and online gambling operator. GVC had no involvement with the development of our research questions or protocol. They will not see any associated materials (i.e., retrieved studies, charted data, and manuscripts in preparation) while the study is in progress or have any editorial rights to any resulting manuscripts. GVC communication about this work will require approval of the Division on Addiction. GVC is now called Entain (https://entaingroup.com/). When this article was published, the Division on Addiction was also receiving funding from DraftKings, Inc., a sports betting and gaming company; EPIC Risk Management; Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, a not-for-profit organization founded and funded by a group of distillers; Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Office of Problem Gambling Services via Health Resources in Action; MGM Resorts International via the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical Sciences and National Institute on Drug Abuse) via The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration via the Addiction Treatment Center of New England; and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration via the Gavin Foundation. During the 5 years prior to the publication of this article, the Division on Addiction has also received funding from David H. Bor Library Fund, Cambridge Health Alliance; Fenway Community Health Center, Inc.; Greater Boston Council on Alcoholism; Integrated Centre on Addiction Prevention and Treatment of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Hong Kong; Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services; Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services via St. Francis House; and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During the past five years, Debi A. LaPlante has served as a paid grant reviewer for the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG; now International Center for Responsible Gaming), received travel funds, speaker honoraria, and a scientific achievement award from the ICRG, has received speaker honoraria and travel support from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, received honoraria funds for preparation of a book chapter from Universite Laval, received publication royalty fees from the American Psychological Association, and received course royalty fees from the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education. Dr. LaPlante is a non-paid member of the New Hampshire Council for Responsible Gambling. During the past 5 years, Eric R. Louderback has received research funding from a grant issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a government agency based in the United States. His research has been financially supported by a Dean’s Research Fellowship from the University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences, who also provided funds to present at academic conferences. He has received travel support funds from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to present research findings and has provided consulting services on player safety programs for Premier Lotteries Ireland. During the past five years, Sarah E. Nelson has served as a paid grant reviewer for the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG; now International Center for Responsible Gaming [ICRG]), GambleAware, Manitoba Responsible Gaming, Alberta Gambling Research Institute, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She has also received travel reimbursement and speaker honoraria from the ICRG and Responsible Gaming Association of New Mexico, travel reimbursement from the American Bar Association, and Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. She received honoraria funds for preparation of a book chapter from Universite Laval and publication royalty fees from the American Psychological Association, and received course royalty fees from the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education. William H. B. McAuliffe and Timothy C. Edson have no funding disclosures to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division On Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA, 02148, USA

    William H. B. McAuliffe, Eric R. Louderback, Timothy C. Edson, Debi A. LaPlante & Sarah E. Nelson

  2. Partment of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Timothy C. Edson, Debi A. LaPlante & Sarah E. Nelson

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  1. William H. B. McAuliffe
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  2. Eric R. Louderback
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  3. Timothy C. Edson
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  4. Debi A. LaPlante
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  5. Sarah E. Nelson
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Correspondence to William H. B. McAuliffe.

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McAuliffe, W.H.B., Louderback, E.R., Edson, T.C. et al. Using “Markers of Harm” to Track Risky Gambling in Two Cohorts of Online Sports Bettors. J Gambl Stud 38, 1337–1369 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10097-0

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