Exploring the prevalence of gambling harm among active duty military personnel: a systematic scoping review.

The prevalence of gambling harm among active duty military personnel is a largely unexplored topic. With different forms of social gambling often found within (or in close proximity to) military bases around the world, understanding the extent of gambling activities and consequent harms occurring within military contexts warrants further attention. This review aims to identify, describe and thematically synthesise published literature on gambling harm and related issues among active duty military personnel. Scoping review methods were applied in order to understand this relatively under-researched population and understand appropriate avenues for future research. A systematic multi-database text word search, incorporating search results from Scopus, Pubmed, Web of Science, PsychInfo, and the Journal Military Medicine, was conducted. A total of 11 sources met inclusion criteria, all originating from the United States of America. The results suggest a distinct gap in the current international literature on this topic. Despite gambling's long and colourful association with defence downtime, research into gambling harm prevalence rates in relation to what could be considered a high-risk group is limited. Findings reveal that strategies to identify and address gambling harm within this population are severely lacking from the published literature and non-existent outside North America. Implications for understanding and addressing gambling harm among active duty personnel and directions for future research are discussed.

An overview of digital and online strategies to reduce gambling harm.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Advancements in mobile- and web-based technologies proliferate everyday opportunities to gamble. The increased availability, popularity and intensity of online gambling platforms and interactive gaming activities also changes the way we construct gambling harm reduction interventions. Information and communication technologies (ICT) provide potential opportunities to reduce harm from online gambling through harm minimisation initiatives and currently available services. The aim of this review was to firstly understand the scope of peer-reviewed evidence on ICT-based strategies to reduce online gambling harm, and secondly, what evidence exists specifically in relation to ICT-based harm reduction initiatives for people who gamble online. METHODS: Scoping review methods and a five-stage model of analysis were used to: identify the published literature on ICT-based harm minimisation activities for online gambling; distil models appropriate to address gambling harm in this setting; and synthesise all available evidence, noting gaps and patterns. RESULTS: Sixteen gambling-specific ICT-based interventions were reviewed in depth. The majority of included studies focused on different components of computer-assisted or online therapy programs for disordered gambling, specifically the development of individual skills in managing problematic gambling behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: The review found that despite the widespread potential ICT represent for addressing gambling harm there has been only limited published research to date. SO WHAT: There is a clear need for further investigation into uptake, usage, focus and effectiveness of all online gambling interventions on offer. The dearth of gambling-specific empirical knowledge potentially indicates a serious resourcing and reporting issues in this area.