A rapid review and research gap analysis: a 2020 update

About the study 

This review, by Dr Simone Rodda, builds on the 2018 gap analysis‌ by reviewing recent Australian and, where relevant, international gambling research to identify areas in which evidence and/or knowledge is minimal or lacking. The findings of the current review will inform the Responsible Gambling Fund’s prioritisation of research projects for their 2020–2021 research plan.

The methodology 

The methodology included a rapid literature review of 198 peer-reviewed articles and 17 grey literature reports published between 1 October 2018 and 23 April 2020.

Key findings

• The research on emerging technologies is limited, although there are consistent findings that gaming and gambling are increasingly converging and of an association between in-game purchases and gambling problems.
• There is sufficient evidence of the associations between advertising and gambling behaviours to support gambling advertising being a priority for policy and regulation.
• The evidence base on the effects of prevention and harm-reduction intervention is dominated by evaluations of individual-level initiatives, with a paucity of research on supply reduction interventions.
• There was disagreement in the literature on the definition, conceptualisation and measurement of harm. Further gambling-harm measurement tools are needed to support the design and measurement of prevention, harm minimisation and treatment research.
• Vulnerable groups were consistently found to have lower gambling participation but higher rates of gambling problems. Vulnerable groups were identified as young people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Aboriginal people, at-risk professions, and groups susceptible to family violence and other comorbidities.

Suggested citation

Rodda SN (2020) A rapid review and research gap analysis: a 2020 update. Commissioned by the NSW Responsible Gambling Fund.