Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 2/2015

01-04-2015

The Victorian Gambling Study (VGS) a Longitudinal Study of Gambling and Health in Victoria 2008–2012: Design and Methods

Authors: Rosa Billi, Christine A. Stone, Max Abbott, Kristal Yeung

Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction | Issue 2/2015

Login to get access

Abstract

The Victorian Gambling Study 2008–2012 (VGS) is a large, multi-design study of gambling among Victorian adults aged 18 and older at baseline. The objectives were to estimate prevalence and incidence, investigate gambling risk transitions, identify risk factors and explore gambling and health. The VGS will provide an evidence base for strategies and programs to prevent problem gambling. This paper provides an overview of the VGS design. The cross sectional study of 15,000 Victorians was conducted in 2008 using a stratified random sampling procedure. Computer assisted telephone interviewing was the contact method employed. Participants who agreed to follow-up were re-interviewed in 2009 (n = 5,003), in 2010–2011 (n = 5,620) and in 2011–2012 (n = 3,701). A qualitative study of a subset was undertaken between waves three and four. The study benefitted from input from our panel of international experts and it is our intention to pass on the learnings from such a large and complex study.
Literature
Abbott, M. (2000). Why are Australians different? A critical perspective on Australian prevalence studies of problem gambling. Lessons of the Past. Proceedings of the 10th National Association of Gambling Studies Conference, Midura, 2000. Alphington, Victoria: National Association of Gambling Studies.
Abbott, M. W., & Clarke, D. (2007). Prospective problem gambling research: contribution and potential. International Gambling Studies, 7, 123–144.CrossRef
Abbott, M. W., & McKenna, B. G. (2005). Gambling and problem gambling among recently sentenced male prisoners in four New Zealand prisons. Journal of Gambling Studies, 12, 143–160.
Abbott, M. W., & Volberg, R. A. (1996). The New Zealand national survey of problem and pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 12, 143–160.
Abbott, M. W., & Volberg, R. A. (2006). The measurement of adult and pathological gambling. International Gambling Studies, 6, 175–200.CrossRef
Abbott, M. W., Williams, M. M., & Volberg, R. A. (1999). Seven years on: A follow-up study of frequent and problem gamblers living in the community report number two of the New Zealand gaming survey. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs.
Abbott, M. W., Williams, M. M., & Volberg, R. A. (2004). A prospective study of problem and non problem gamblers living in the community. Substance Use and Misuse, 39, 855–884.
Abbott, M., Bellringer, M., Garrett, N., & Mundy-McPherson, S. (2014a). New Zealand 2012 National gambling study: Overview and gambling participation. Wellington: AUT.
Abbott, M., Bellringer, M., Garrett, N., & Mundy-McPherson, S. (2014b). New Zealand 2012: National gambling study: Gambling harm and problem gambling. Wellington: AUT.
Australian Communications and Media Authority. (2008). Fixed-mobile convergence and fixed-mobile substitution in Australia. Melbourne.
Beaglehole, R., Bonita, R., & Kjellstrom, T. (2003). Basic epidemiology. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
Billi, R., Stone, C. A., Marden, P., Yeung, K. (2014). The Victorian Gambling Study: A longitudinal study of gambling and health in Victoria, 2008-2013. Victoria, Australia. Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
Cowlishaw, S., Merkouris, S., Chapman, A. & Radermacher, H. (2014). Problem and Pathological gambling in substance use treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis [Online]. Victoria, Australia: Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Available: retrieved from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
Currie, S. R., Casey, D. M. & Hodgins, D. C. (2010). Improving the psychometric properties of the problem gambling severity index. Ontario, Canada.
Department of Justice and Attorney General. (2011a). Comparing two scoring methods for the problem gambling severity index a brief analysis of the Victorian market segmentation study 2008. Queensland: Queensland Government.
Department of Justice and Attorney General. (2011b). Gambling prevalence study standards. Victoria: Gambling Research Australia.
El-Guebaly, N., Casey, D. M., Hodgins, D. C., Smith, G. J., Williams, R. J., Schopflocher, D. P., & Wood, R. T. (2008). Designing a longitudinal cohort study of gambling in Alberta: rationale, methods and challenges. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24, 479–504.CrossRefPubMed
Ewing, J. A. (1984). Detecting alcoholism: the CAGE questionnaire. Journal of the American Medical Association, 252, 1905–1907.CrossRefPubMed
Ferris, J. & Wynne, H. (2001). The Canadian problem gambling index: Final report. Canada.
Hare, S. (2009). A study of gambling in Victoria- problem gambling from a public health perspective. Melbourne, Victoria.
Haw, J., Holdsworth, L., & Nisbet, S. (2013). Gambling and comorbid disorders. Melbourne: Gambling Research Australia.
Kessler, R. C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L. J., Hiripi, E., Mroczek, D. K., Normand, S. L. T., Walters, E. E., & Zaslavsky, A. M. (2002). Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 32, 959–956.CrossRefPubMed
Lorains, F. K., Cowlishaw, S., & Thomas, S. A. (2011). Prevalence of comorbid disorders in problem and pathological gambling: systematic review and meta-analysis of population surveys. Addiction, 106, 490–498.
McDonnell-Phillips. (2008). A market segmentation study of Victorians exploring community attitudes and behaviours to gambling. Melbourne: Department of Justice.
McMillen, J., & Wenzel, M. (2006). Measuring problem gambling: assessment of three prevalence screens. International Gambling Studies, 6, 147–174.
McMillen, J., Marshall, D., Ahmed, E., & Wenzel, M. (2004). 2003 Victorian longitudinal community attitudes survey. Melbourne: Gambling Research Panel.
Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis- an expanded sourcebook. California: Sage.
Nower, L., & Blaszczynski, A. (2008). Recovery in pathological gambling: an imprecise concept. Substance Use and Misuse, 43, 1844–1864.CrossRefPubMed
Queensland Department of Corrective Services. (2002). Problem gambling prevalence survey 2002. In: Department of Corrective Services & Treasury (eds.). Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Government.
Rollnick, S., Heather, N., Gold, R., & Hall, W. (1992). Development of a short ‘readiness to change’ questionnaire for use in brief, opportunistic interventions among excessive drinkers. British Journal of Addiction, 87, 743–754.CrossRefPubMed
Romild, U. (2013). Swedish longitudinal study (SWELOGS). 9th SNUS Conference. Norway.
Romild, U., Volberg, R. A. & Abbott, M. (2014). The Swedish longitudinal gambling study (Swelogs)y: design and methods of the epidemiological track. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research.
Shaffer, H. J., Labrie, R. A., Laplante, D. A., & Nelson, S. E. (2004). The road less travelled: moving from distribution to determinants in the study of gambling epidemiology. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49, 504–516.
Sharman, S., Dreyer, J., Aitken, M., Clark, L. & Bowden-Jones, H. (2014). Rates of problematic gambling in a British homeless sample. Journal of Gambling Studies.
Slutske, W. S. (2007). Longtudinal study of gambling behaviour. In G. J. Smith, D. C. Hodgins, & R. J. Williams (Eds.), Research and Measurement Issues in Gambling Studies. Amsterdam: Elselvier.
Stone, C., A, Romild, U., Abbott, M., Yeung, K., Billi, R. & Volberg, R. (2014). Effects of screening and scoring thresholds on PGSI gambling risk segments. International Journal of Mental Health and Addictions, 1-21.
Toce-Gerstein, M, & Volberg, R. A. (2003). THe NODS-CLiP: A new brief screen for pathological gambling. 17th National Conference on Problem Gambling. Louisville, KY.
Turner, N. T., Jain, U., Spence, W., & Zangeneh, M. (2008). Pathways to pathological gambling: component analysis of variables related to pathological gambling. International Gambling Studies, 8, 281–198.CrossRef
Volberg, R. A. (2013). Comparing longitudinal studies of gambling: Methods and findings. 15th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Volberg, R. A. & Taylor, Y. S. (2003). Five item NODS CLiP2 (unpublished).
Williams, R. J., & Volberg, R. A. (2009). Impact of survey description, administration method and exclusionary criteria on population prevalence rates of problem gambling. International Gambling Studies, 9, 101–117.CrossRef
Williams, R. J. & Volberg, R. A. (2012). Population assessment of problem gambling:utility and best practice. Ontario, Canada: Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre and The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
Williams, R. J., Royston, J., & Hagen, B. F. (2005). Gambling and problem gambling with forensic populations: a review of the literature. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 32, 665–680.CrossRef
Williams, R., J & Volberg R, A. (2010). Best practices in the populations assessment of problem gambling. In: Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (ed.). Ontario.
Wohl, M. J. A., & Sztainert, T. (2011). Where did all the pathological gamblers go? Gambling symptomology and stage of change predict attrition in longiutdinal research. Journal of Gambling Studies, 27, 155–169.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
The Victorian Gambling Study (VGS) a Longitudinal Study of Gambling and Health in Victoria 2008–2012: Design and Methods
Authors
Rosa Billi
Christine A. Stone
Max Abbott
Kristal Yeung
Publication date
01-04-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction / Issue 2/2015
Print ISSN: 1557-1874
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1882
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-014-9528-8

Other articles of this Issue 2/2015

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 2/2015 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Intellectual Function of Socioeconomically Deprived ‘Street children’ in Quito, Ecuador

OriginalPaper

Psychometric Proprities of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale - Brazilian Version

OriginalPaper

New Understandings of Mothering: Mothers in an Abstinence-Based Drug Treatment Program

Report

High-Dose Methadone Transfer to Buprenorphine in Outpatient Settings

OriginalPaper

A Grounded Theory of the Influence of Significant Life Events, Psychological co-Morbidities and Related Social Factors on Gambling Involvement

OriginalPaper

Diving into the Being of Resiliency from Addiction: A Nondual Approach