One in ten Swedes has a close one with a gambling problem

About 11% of adults in Sweden had a family member, friend, or colleague with a gambling problem during the past year, according to a large national survey. Having a friend with gambling problems was the most common experience, followed by being affected by a family member or a colleague. This means that the group affected by someone else’s gambling is considerably larger than the 1.3% of adults who have gambling problems themselves.

Who is most affected?

Younger people, under 45, were more likely to report having a close one with gambling problems, particularly when it came to friends or colleagues. Men more often reported having a friend with gambling problems, while women were somewhat more likely to report having an affected family member or close relative.

Regardless of their relationship to the person with the gambling problems, affected others reported poorer wellbeing, including higher levels of mental distress, hazardous alcohol use, and more frequent arguing. Those with a colleague who had gambling problems were also more likely to report difficulties with their manager.

The longer the exposure, the worse the outcomes

A second study followed the same individuals between 2018 and 2021 and found that the duration of exposure matters. Those who were affected others at both time points consistently reported the poorest outcomes. Compared with those who had never been affected by someone else’s gambling, they were more than ten times as likely to engage in risky gambling themselves, almost three times as likely to report suicidal thoughts, and more likely to report serious mental distress, hazardous alcohol use, arguing, exposure to violence, and financial hardship.

Among those who had recently become affected others, elevated levels were seen mainly for hazardous alcohol use, arguing, and financial hardship. Because the study shows associations rather than cause and effect, it cannot say with certainty that becoming an affected other caused these changes.

Some problems linger

An important finding is that former affected others generally reported fewer problems than those who remained affected over time. Yet compared with people who had never been affected by someone else’s gambling, they still showed higher risks of risky gambling, exposure to violence, and financial hardship.

In other words, things tend to improve once someone is no longer an affected other, but some problems, like exposure to violence and financial strain, appear to linger.

What do the results mean?

The studies show that affected others of people with gambling problems form a large and diverse group, and that both the relationship to the gambler and the duration of exposure matter. Health and support services could act on this by asking more broadly about gambling habits, not only among partners, but also among friends, family members, and colleagues, and by paying attention to past exposure as well as current situations.

Yet even this broader picture remains incomplete, as it only captures adults. Children living with a parent’s or sibling’s gambling problems may be even harder to identify and support. Despite the substantial number of people affected by someone else’s gambling, both adults and children remain underrepresented among those who seek help. Recognizing how many people quietly live with the consequences of another person’s gambling is a first step toward ensuring that support reaches them too.

The article is written by

Kristina Sundqvist, Associate Professor (Docent) and licensed psychologist, at the Department of Psychology, Stockholm University

and

Peter Wennberg, Professor, at the Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University

at the request of PopNAD