Harmful types of gambling: changes and emerging trends in longitudinal helpline data

Background: Gambling products differ in terms of their harm potential. These products are also constantly developing and changing. However, little research has addressed changes and trends in the types of gambling that are associated with harms. The current study explores trends in the gambling product categories identified as harmful in longitudinal helpline data from three Nordic countries.
Methods: We use data collected by national helplines in Denmark (StopSpillet), Finland (Peluuri), and Sweden (Stödlinjen) in their daily operations ((N=46,646). The data consist of information collected on gamblers and concerned significant others who have contacted these helplines between January 2019 and December 2022. We analyse which gambling products are mentioned as harmful by clients. The analysis uses linear regression with the interaction term (country) times time regressed over the outcome variable (proportion per month).
Results: Our data show that online gambling is associated with an increasing share of harms. Online casino products are the most harmful category across contexts, and their share of harms is increasing. The share of online betting and new emerging online forms is also increasing. The share of land-based products as a reported source of harms has decreased across 2019–2022.
Conclusions: Levels of harms are decreasing in land-based environments, but harms associated with online gambling are increasing. The results suggest some substitution in terms of products that helpseekers identify as most harmful. Further harm prevention efforts are needed to address the online gambling field, including emerging formats.