2014 archive

Forum for problem gambling issues

A very interesting conference took place in Malmö on November 28-29: Forum for Problem Gambling Issues (”Forum för spelberoendefrågor”). The conference was financed by the Public Health Agency of Sweden and organized by the National Association of Problem Gamblers (Spelberoendes riksförbund, SBRF). About sixty people participated in the conference. The majority were from mutual support …

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Fourth GARN network meeting

The Swedish network of gambling researchers – GARN – held its fourth meeting on November 19 – 20, 2014, in Stockholm. The agenda included many topics but to me the most interesting discussion was about the concept of addiction. The discussion was held in connection to two presentations about online gaming. The presenters – Rune Aune Mentzoni (invited …

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EASG conference in Helsinki

The European Association for the Study of Gambling (EASG) held its tenth conference in Helsinki, September 9-12, 2014. Around three hundred people from all parts of the world participated and there were more than one hundred presentations. Virtually all aspects of gambling were covered: legislation, regulation, economics, problem gambling, prevention, treatment and cultural history. I …

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Update on gambling advertising research

The report Gambling advertising: A critical research review was written by Per Binde for the Responsible Gambling Trust in the UK. It was published in April, 2014. > Download the report The report has an appendix that lists empirical studies examining gambling advertising. Part A of the appendix lists 36 publications presenting studies that focus …

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Problem gambling in the financial sector: A pilot study

I will soon begin a study on problem gambling among employees in the financial sector. The Swedish Public Health Agency has financed the study, which is planned to run for one year. Why the financial sector? It’s because there are reasons to believe that problem gambling among employees in this occupational sector has particularly severe …

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