Home > Gambling consumption and socio-demographic characteristics among help-seekers with gambling-related debt.

Marionneau, Virve and Havuaho, Sara and Jokirinne, Nina and Lahtinen, Aino (2026) Gambling consumption and socio-demographic characteristics among help-seekers with gambling-related debt. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Early online, 14034948261488598. https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948261488598.

External website: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/140349482...

Indebtedness is prevalent among people with gambling problems. However, little research has focused on socio-demographic characteristics and gambling consumption patterns of individuals who finance their gambling with loans. This study aims to identify how debt-financed gambling is associated with socio-demographics and gambling consumption among help-seekers in Finland. We analysed gambling consumption and socio-demographic characteristics among help-seekers who use debt money to gamble. The analysis is based on data collected by the Finnish gambling helpline Peluuri across 2019-2022 ( = 4202). We used ridge regression with bootstrap analysis to conduct the analysis. 39.11 % of help-seekers reported gambling with debt money. Gambling with debt was the most prevalent in 2019 and reduced in subsequent years, most notably after 2020. Gambling-related debt was more prevalent among 35- to 54-year-old people and those active in the labour market. Online gambling and poker were associated with debt.


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