The Devastating Impact of Gambling Addiction on Families

Families must also be taught not to enable gambling out of a sense of filial piety or respect for the older adult. It is also clear that many older adult gamblers modulate their behavior due to the pressure exerted by the family. Family members must be educated so that they can encourage help-seeking to ensure early treatment and recovery. Studies on caregivers that assess the impact of gambling on their physical and mental health as well as health-related quality of life must be conducted. There is also a need for interventional studies for reducing stress and improving coping among family members.

These programs aim to raise awareness about the signs and consequences of gambling addiction, helping individuals make informed decisions and seek help when needed. By providing up-to-date resources and information, families and friends can also learn more about problem gambling and understand the addiction better. Organizations such as the Division on Addiction offer toolkits and resources to support family members and friends in providing effective support to their loved ones.

Text analysis

Despite this, the completeness and applicability of the extant literature are limited. The present review highlighted that factors such as family functioning, attachment styles, household challenges, childhood trauma, and ACEs are key to understanding gambling-related harm (Bristow et al., 2022; Goodrich et al., 2023; Ponti et al., 2021; Topino et al., 2021). Therefore, we propose that future research should prioritise the disaggregation of these variables. This approach would enable a more precise understanding of how familial relationships and home environment uniquely contribute to the development and persistence of gambling behaviours across different life stages.

Education about gambling addiction can also empower families, helping them understand the complexities of addiction and learn how to navigate the challenges. By setting boundaries, seeking support, and prioritizing self-care, family members can rebuild their relationships and create a supportive environment for recovery. While the journey to recovery is challenging, families can take several steps to begin healing. Seeking professional help, such as family counselling or support groups, can provide a safe space for family members to discuss their challenges and find solutions. Organizations like Gam-Anon offer valuable resources and support for families dealing with gambling addiction, providing coping strategies and emotional support.

This is consistent with research that shows the father as the most reported family member to introduce individuals to gambling in their childhood (Cavalera et al., 2018; Keatley et al., 2019; Lelonek-Kuleta & Bartczuk, 2020; Nower et al., 2022). In-depth interviewing is a qualitative research technique comprising a purposeful conversation between a researcher and a respondent. The social interaction encourages respondents to talk in-depth about https://gameaviatorofficial.com/ the topic under investigation without the researcher’s use of predetermined, focused questions.

• They may believe that they caused the problem and that their behavior can somehow fix the situation 4.
• When the risk factors reach a certain level, the protective factors will reduce their role and even change the direction of action.
• This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
• Relatedly, qualitative evidence indicated that being introduced to scratch cards as birthday presents by family members was often the catalyst for their gambling into adulthood (Keatley et al., 2019).

Our findings are somewhat different to that reported by Gainsbury, Hing, and Suhonen (2014) among Australian gamblers. Participants in the study indicated financial problems as one of their strongest reason for seeking/intention to seek professional help but pressure from family did not emerge as a significant motivating factor. Compulsive gambling can be tied to trauma-related addiction, anxiety, depression, and unresolved emotional issues. Many people use gambling as a coping mechanism or a way to escape these distressing feelings, only to find that gambling makes their problems worse. Working with a licensed therapist can help you explore what’s fueling your compulsive gambling, identify your triggers, and build healthier coping skills so you can break the cycle. Not only does gambling addiction affect the immediate family members, but it also impacts extended family, intimate partners, and close friends.

Types of Family Support Resources

For example, Horak et al. (2021) found that physical neglect, but not emotional neglect, significantly contributed to predicting gambling behaviour. Goodrich et al. (2023) and Bristow et al. (2022) suggested that “household challenges” had no significant impact on gambling behaviours. Additionally, Tucker et al. (2021) reported no correlation between ACEs or specific categories of ACE’s and gambling. However, they identified a positive association between the total number of ACEs reported by an individual and gambling frequency.

Table 2 correlation analysis results showed that impulsivity was not significantly correlated with GF12 and PCMS except for GABS. Jeopardizing or losing significant relationships, jobs, or opportunities due to gambling. Additionally, GamAnon can help affected individuals with tailored support groups that may be beneficial in addition to individual counseling. Caring for someone with an addiction can be emotionally exhausting, and can result in you neglecting your own needs for the sake of theirs. Here are a few things you can do to be there for your loved one, while making sure your needs are met as well.

Risk factors

The consequences of gambling addiction extend to both immediate and extended family members, with varying degrees of severity. Gambling addiction profoundly impacts families, creating a cascade of emotional, financial, and relational challenges. Thematic network analysis methodology proposed by Stirling (2001) was adopted to analyze the data. Thematic network analysis brings together basic themes, which are the lowest-order themes, and groups them into organizing themes. Organizing themes are then arranged into a superordinate, global theme, which reflects a major point in the text. These basic, organizing, and global themes are then portrayed visually as a network.