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. 2023 Jan 27;18(1):e0281099.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281099. eCollection 2023.

Trajectories of wellbeing in people who live with gamblers experiencing a gambling problem: An 18-year longitudinal analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey

Catherine Tulloch  1 , Matthew Browne  2 , Nerilee Hing  2 , Matthew Rockloff  2 , Margo Hilbrecht  3   4
Affiliations

Trajectories of wellbeing in people who live with gamblers experiencing a gambling problem: An 18-year longitudinal analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey

Catherine Tulloch et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

In cross-sectional gambling studies, friends, family, and others close to those experiencing gambling problems (concerned significant others 'CSOs') tend to report detriments to their quality of life. To date, however, there have been no large, population-based longitudinal studies examining the health and wellbeing of CSOs. We analyse longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to examine the 18-year trajectories of general, social, health and financial wellbeing of household CSOs (n = 477) and compare these to those without a gambling problem in the household (n = 13,661). CSOs reported significantly worse long-term wellbeing than non-CSOs in their satisfaction with life, number of life stressors, and social, health and financial wellbeing. However, both social and financial wellbeing showed a temporal effect, declining significantly for CSOs at times closer to the exposure to the gambling problem. This finding suggests a causal link between living in a household with a person with a gambling problem and decreased CSO social and financial wellbeing. Policy responses, such as additional social and financial support, could be considered to assist CSOs impacted by another person's gambling problem.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Primary sample selection, HILDA 2018.
Fig 2
Fig 2
a-c. The trajectories of overall wellbeing for CSO and non-CSOs.
Fig 3
Fig 3
a-h. The trajectories of social, health and financial wellbeing for CSO and non-CSOs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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