Ludens: A Gambling Addiction Prevention Program Based on the Principles of Ethical Gambling

Gambling is legal in most countries. However, despite having some economic benefits, certain characteristics of gambling can have health consequences, rendering it a public health issue. The effects can be summarized according to the following three “laws” of ethical gambling: “Gambling Dynamics Law”: companies’ economic gains come directly from players’ losses; “Expected Loss Law”: the more one gambles, the greater the probability of losing; and “Addiction Law”: the more one gambles, the greater the need to play again, leading to further losses. Ludens is a gambling addiction prevention program that has four goals: inform participants about gambling and gambling addiction; sensitize participants to the risk of gambling for health, especially addiction; promote a change in attitudes toward gambling; and alert participants to risky behaviors that can lead to addiction. The prevention program was implemented during 2017 to 2019. Fourteen psychologists presented it to 2372 adolescents (48.8% females, 51.2% males) aged 14–19 years, none of whom were university students, recruited from 42 Spanish high schools in 132 groups taking different courses. The main dependent variables analyzed were the monthly frequencies of gambling, at-risk gambling, and gambling addiction (as measured by the National Opinion Research Center DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems, adapted to diagnose gambling disorder according to DSM-5, in which pathological gambling is considered an addictive disorder). Given that all of the gamblers were adolescents (most were minors), fulfilment of 1–3 the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria was considered to indicate a risk of problem gambling. After the administration of Ludens, statistically significant reductions were observed in the three variables of interest: monthly frequency of gambling, percentage of adolescents with risky gambling, and percentage of adolescents with gambling disorder. The results were analyzed according to sex and age (minors vs. adolescents between 18 and 19 years old). The results obtained after applying the prevention program indicate that Ludens is effective as a universal prevention program for gambling addiction.

EKONOMSKI I DRUŠTVENI TROŠKOVI OVISNOSTI O KOCKANJU U HRVATSKOJ – DRUGA STRANA MEDALJE

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COSTS OF GAMBLING ADDICTION IN CROATIA – THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MEDAL ABSTRACT Gambling, as a behavior primarily aimed at entertainment and leisure, is risky due to the potential development of harmful psychosocial consequences, i.e. the development of gambling addiction symptoms. These include the full range of health (physical and mental), social (family, friends, community), and economic (employment, finances, and crime) adverse consequences. The aim of this research is to calculate the economic and social costs of gambling addiction in the Republic of Croatia in order to provide science-based indicators to encourage positive regulatory changes that would ensure a balanced market between profitable and risky elements of the gambling industry. The research starts from the scientific research on the prevalence of gambling addiction in the adult Croatian population and the official data on revenues in the state budget from all gambling activities. Two of the most commonly used methodologies were used to calculate the social and economic costs: National Opinion Research Centre − NORC and Australian Productivity Commission − APC. The research uses original and strict criteria for the prevalence of gambling addiction. Regardless of the methodology used, the results show that the social costs of gambling addiction in Croatia account for between 34% and 77% of the total annual gambling revenue. Ljetopis socijalnog rada 2021., 28 (1), 37-70. 70 članci The results were interpreted in the context of general guidelines for improving the policy of responsible gambling, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of developing harmful psychosocial consequences in society. Key words: gambling; gambling addiction; economic costs; social costs; consequences