Gambling in Covid-19 Lockdown in the UK

Depression, Stress, and Anxiety

Bibliographic Data

ID15518940
AuthorsSteve Sharman (0000-0001-9816-7981, King's College London, corresponding author), Amanda Roberts (0000-0002-1172-3242, University of Lincoln), Henrietta Bowden‐Jones (0000-0002-9314-3697, Faculty (United Kingdom)), John F Strang (0000-0002-0950-6177, King's College London), J Strang (0000-0002-5413-2725)
Year2021
Volume12
Pages621497-621497
Publication date2021-01-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
PublisherFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2021.621497
PMID33569018
OpenAlexW3121384195
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited36

To combat the spread of COVID-19, the UK Government implemented a range of "lockdown" measures. Lockdown has necessarily changed the gambling habits of gamblers in the UK, and the impact of these measures on the mental health of gamblers is unknown. To understand the impact of lockdown on gamblers, in April 2020, after ~6 weeks of lockdown, participants ( N = 1,028, 72% female) completed an online questionnaire. Gambling engagement data was collected for pre-lockdown via the Brief Problem Gambling Screen (BPGS) allowing participants to be classified as Non-Gamblers (NG), Non-Problem Gamblers (NPG) or Potential Problem Gamblers (PPG). The Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (DASS21) was used to measure depression, stress, and anxiety scores both pre- and during-lockdown. Results indicate that depression, stress and anxiety has increased across the whole sample. Participants classified in the PPG group reported higher scores on each sub scale at both baseline and during lockdown. Increases were observed on each DASS21 subscale, for each gambler group, however despite variable significance and effect sizes, the magnitude of increases did not differ between groups. Lockdown has had a significant impact on mental health of participants; whilst depression stress and anxiety remain highest in potential problem gamblers, pre-lockdown gambler status did not affect changes in DASS21 scores

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Affect (linguistics · Anxiety · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · DASS · Depression (economics · Disease · Mental health · Psychiatry · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Clinical Psychology · Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Medicine · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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