gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

percentage of the population (i.e., remembering that about 25% of people do not gamble at all,
and for those that do gamble, most only buy the occasional lottery and raffle ticket). The
possible exceptions to this are reserve communities hosting an economically successful casino,
where widespread economic and social benefits typically occur (Williams, Rehm, & Stevens,
2011).
Thus, a more pertinent (and answerable) question concerns the impact of gambling
involvement at an individual level. One way of addressing this question is through an
examination of subjective well being; more specifically, self-reported levels of happiness and
stress as a function of whether a person engages in gambling or not. Gambling participation as
a function of self-reported stress and happiness was asked in the 2008 population survey (not
in the 2009 survey) and the results are reported in Table 36. For comparison purposes the
lower levels of happiness and higher levels of stress observed among problem gamblers
(measured by the PPGM) are also presented. A Chi Square test found that happiness ratings
were significantly different between gamblers and nongamblers (Chi square (4 df) = 27.8, p =
.000014). A z test of column proportions determined that the specific differences were higher
levels of ‘very high’ happiness among the nongamblers, and correspondingly lower levels of
‘high’ happiness relative to gamblers. Here again, it is impossible to know whether
nongambling is more conducive to happiness or whether happier people are just less likely to
gamble. 67 In either case, these results indicate that nongambling bears a somewhat stronger
association with self-reported happiness.
In contrast to levels of happiness, no significant difference was found for levels of stress
between gamblers and nongamblers (Chi Square (4 df) = 4.43, p = .351).
Table 36: Self-Rated Stress and Happiness as a Function of Past Year Gambling Status (2008).
In the past 12 months
how would you rate
your overall level of
happiness?
In the past 12 months
how would you rate
your overall level of
stress?
Non-Gambler Gambler
Problem
Gambler
# % # % # %
Very Low 8 1.0% 23 1.1% 3 4.5%
Low 21 2.6% 68 3.1% 7 10.6%
Moderate 298 35.7% 795 36.9% 34 51.5%
High 321 38.5% 961 44.6% 15 22.7%
Very High 184 22.1% 310 14.4% 7 10.6%
Very Low 129 15.6% 305 14.2% 2 3.0%
Low 162 19.5% 480 22.3% 8 12.1%
Moderate 370 44.7% 902 42.0% 35 53.0%
High 114 13.8% 312 14.5% 12 18.2%
Very High 53 6.4% 149 6.9% 9 13.6%
67 A multiple regression on this same data set shows that although nongambling is still a statistical predictor of
level of happiness, that it is less predictive than several other things (i.e., absence of addictive behaviour, age,
nonuse of tobacco, gender).
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