Gambling and Gambling-Related Harm: A Global Public Health Challenge

Dear Colleagues,

With the increased accessibility and availability of online casino sites and game content containing gambling-like elements, in recent years, gambling disorder has posed a public health risk [1]. Nevertheless, research regarding gambling-related harm may fall short of the need to establish evidence-based interventions [2], partially related to the different conceptualizations and measurements of gambling-related harm [3-4]. Moreover, gambling-related harm is often confined to the harm caused to gamblers who meet the diagnostic criteria of gambling disorder [5]. Different societies have their own policies (or no policies) that are used to regulate gambling activities so as to limit gambling-related harm. Innovative and rigorous designs and evaluations of these interventions will be helpful in the promotion of better policy development and implementation.

We welcome theoretical and empirical studies that discuss or evaluate current and potential practices relating to gambling harm reduction for individual gamblers and the community as a whole. 

1. Abbott, M.W. Gambling and gambling-related harm: recent World Health Organization initiatives. Public Heal. 2020, 184, 56–59, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.04.001.
2. McMahon, N.; Thomson, K.; Kaner, E.; Bambra, C. Effects of prevention and harm reduction interventions on gambling behaviours and gambling related harm: An umbrella review. Addict. Behav. 2018, 90, 380–388, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.11.048.
3. Delfabbro, P.; King, D.L. Challenges in the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Gambling-Related Harm. J. Gambl. Stud. 2019, 35, 743–755, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-019-09844-1.
4. Langham, E.; Thorne, H.; Browne, M.; Donaldson, P.; Rose, J.; Rockloff, M. Understanding gambling related harm: a proposed definition, conceptual framework, and taxonomy of harms. BMC Public Heal. 2015, 16, 1–23, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2747-0.
5. Browne, M.; Greer, N.; Rawat, V.; Rockloff, M. A population-level metric for gambling-related harm. Int. Gambl. Stud. 2017, 17, 163–175, https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2017.1304973. 

Dr. Kwok-Kit Tong
Guest Editor

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