Gambling-Related Harm to Affected Others: Lived Experience Differs by Relationship Type, Gambling Severity, Life Circumstances, and Relationship Factors

Abstract Quantitative self-report measures for gambling-related harm experienced by gamblers themselves are established in the literature, whereas similar measures of gambling-related harm to affected others (AOs, a.k.a. concerned significant others) are given less attention. The impact of gambling-related harm varies significantly among different relationship types, such as partners, family members, and friends. Moreover, while many studies concentrate primarily of AOs of individuals meeting the threshold criteria for “problem gambling”, AOs of gamblers with less severe issues can also experience harm. The present work takes a qualitative approach to understanding gambling-related harm as experienced by AOs, by exploring the lived experience of 30 AOs across these three relationship types, and the full spectrum of AO harm according to the Short Gambling Harm Screen for Concerned Significant Others (SGHS-CSO) self-report measure. The results showed that the level of AO harm varied both across and within each relationship type depending on how heavily the gambler gambled, whether the two people gambled together, how close the relationship was, the AO’s level of social support, and also how interdependent the two people’s life situations were. AOs enacted multiple strategies to help reduce harm for the gambler and themselves, or alternatively distanced themselves from the gambler. The findings indicate that SGHS-CSO comparisons may work reasonably well within a given relationship type, but also suggest ways to improve the comparability of measured harm across different AO relationship types.