PROBLEM GAMBLING AND HELP SEEKING AMONGST ACTIVE GAMBLERS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Gambling is a widely accepted form of social recreational activity in Singapore dating back to its colonial days. Although the government-commissioned studies on gambling participation have found that the prevalence of problem gambling in Singapore is comparable to international norms, there is a dearth of research in this topic. The few studies that were done mainly focused on identifying the gambling patterns and antecedents which differentiated normal and problem gamblers. There is no prior study that looks into the psychosocial factors associated with problem gambling. Moreover, despite the comprehensive 3-tiered approach set up by NCPG to address problem gambling in Singapore, the number of help seekers has remained very low. This is an exploratory study aimed at finding out the psychosocial factors associated with problem gambling in Singapore and the sociobehavioral factors associated with help seeking for problem gambling here. Implications for social work theory building and practice are discussed.