Help-seeking for gambling problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study on the experiences of Norwegian help providers and their insights into gamblers

TL;DR

This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affected gambling behaviors and help-seeking in Norway, based on interviews with support providers.

Contribution

The study provides new qualitative insights into how help providers perceived the pandemic's impact on gambling and support-seeking behaviors.

Findings

Gamblers became more open and support-seeking during the pandemic.

Help providers faced obstacles in offering support due to reluctance or barriers from gamblers.

The pandemic created opportunities to address gambling issues amid financial hardship and reduced gambling access.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant societal disruptions, including changes in gambling availability, gambling behaviours, and demand for support services. Although gambling support services play a crucial role in aiding individuals experiencing gambling-related harm, research regarding how help providers themselves perceived the pandemic’s impact on their work and callers is lacking.

This qualitative study investigated Norwegian help providers’ experiences of COVID-19 and how it affected gambling and gambling-related conversations. Semi-structured interviews with thirteen help providers were analysed using thematic analysis.

The analysis identified five main themes: 1) Gamblers became more open, chatty, and support-seeking, 2) help providers experienced obstacles in offering support, with gamblers being reluctant to and/or impeded from receiving help, 3) COVID-19 created an opportunity to address gambling-related issues, as many became more aware of problematic behaviours amid financial hardship and reduced access to gambling platforms, 4) gambling had a heightened appeal during COVID-19, including perceptions of greater gambling availability in addition to a desire to escape as a motive to gamble, and 5) COVID-19 had minimal impact on support conversations.

Despite appearing somewhat contradictory, the findings offer new insights into the multifaceted impact of COVID-19 on gambling and may inform future preventive and intervention efforts.