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ABSTRACT
It has been reported that Japan may have many disordered pachinko/pachislot players, and taking some countermeasures is required. This study proposes high-risk limits, an index developed by employing a calculating method of low-risk limits to identify disordered players and to contribute to the development of countermeasures. High-risk limits can be established by gambling disorder scale items and participation levels measured in a population survey. The study preliminarily examined how different high-risk limits could be established by using three commonly used scales: SOGS, PGSI and DSM-5. The sample comprised 522 registered panel members for a web survey company, who lived in the Tokyo metropolitan area and played pachinko/pachislot in the last year. They answered items on three gambling disorder scales and four types of participation, such as average monthly loss. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that the three scales had same optimal limits for high-risk participation: average monthly loss of 20,000–50,000 JPY and the average monthly loss/yearly household income of 0.003-0.005. Logistic regression analysis confirmed that high-risk participation predicted the disorder irrespective of demographics. The results of this study suggested that high-risk limits can be established using the disorder scales commonly used in prevalence surveys.
Conflicts of interest
Competing interests
Kikunori Shinohara is on the board of trustees of Nichiyukyo (Japan Pachinko Pachislot Industry Association).
Constraints on publishing
The authors declared no constraints on publishing.
Notes
1. We calculated the high-risk limits for more tangible harms (consequences 3–5). In consequences 3 and 4, same high-risk limits as those for the score cut-off values were provided, whereas in consequence 5, higher high-risk limits were provided with respect to the amount of play and loss/income.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Kumiko Akiyama
Kumiko Akiyama is a researcher temporarily employed by the Nikkoso Research Foundation for Safe Society. Her interests are responsible gambling and the development of countermeasures for disordered gambling.
Kikunori Shinohara
Kikunori Shinohara is a professor of Suwa Tokyo University of Science. His work focuses specifically on pleasure and habituation.
Akira Sakamoto
Akira Sakamoto is a professor of social psychology at Ochanomizu University. His work focuses specifically on the impact of digital media use on human development and behavior.
Akiyo Shoun
Akiyo Shoun is a PhD student in social psychology at Ochanomizu University. Her research interests are the relationship between problem gambling and personality traits and the subtypes of problem gambling.
Yasunobu Komoto
Yasunobu Komoto is a vice-president at Yoshino Hospital. His research interests are treatment methods for problem gamblers, recovery and ambivalence of disordered gamblers.
Taku Sato
Taku Sato is a director of the Naruse Mental Clinic. His research interests are onset and recovery from disordered gambling.
Naoyuki Nishimura
Naoyuki Nishimura is the head of NPO, which offers telephone counselling for problem gamblers by the Recovery Support Network. His research interests are countermeasures and recovery from problem gambling.
Hitoshi Ishida
Hitoshi Ishida is the research fellow of the Nikkoso Research Foundation for Safe Society. His research interest is methodology of gambling studies.
Nobuo Makino
Nobuo Makino is a professor emeritus of Japan Women’s University. His major research fields are sociology and sociology of education. He is the chairperson of the study group on disordered Pachinko/Pachislot gambling of the Nikkoso Research Foundation for Safe Society.