Thematic issue on gambling and gender

Significant life events and social connectedness in Australian women’s gambling experiences

Elaine M. Nuske, Louise Holdsworth and <b>Helen Breen examine the relation between significant life events, social connections and gambling among Australian female gamblers. Pierre Bourdieu’s and Robert D. Putnam’s theories on social capital are used to understand women’s gambling engagement and gambling-related problems.

Problem gambling and drinking among Finnish women

Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos analyses the relation between gender and addiction in short online narratives written by Finnish female problem gamblers. The women’s problematic gambling behaviour casts light on relationships and the gendered roles within the family. The qualitative data gives also an insight into female problem gamblers’ relation to drinking.

A gender perspective on gambling clusters in Sweden using longitudinal data

Ulla Romild, Jessika Svensson and Rachel Volberg use the Swedish Longitudinal Gambling Study (SWELOGS) data to study past-year gambling participation (cf. frequency and forms of gambling) by gender among 16 to 84-year-old respondents. Different clusters are identified representing various forms of gambling participation and indicating gender and socio-demographic differences between and within them.

At-risk and problem gambling among Finnish youth

Robert Edgren and colleagues explore the association between at-risk gambling, problem gambling, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, poor mental health and loneliness among 15 to 28-year-old Finnish males and females. The data is derived from the Finnish Gambling Survey 2011. The study also reviews the meanings of risky behaviours among adolescents and emerging adults and the impact of gender and age in the development of problems.

From boredom to dependence: The medicalisation of the Swedish gambling problem

Johan Edman and Josefine Berndt study the medicalisation of gambling in Sweden by comparing discussion protocols and parliamentary bills from the early 1970s to the early 2010s. The political handling of the gambling problem reveals the process of medicalisation of misuse, but it also points out major social and economic changes in the Swedish society.