Associations between gambling severity and criminal convictions: implications for the welfare state

Figures & data

Table 1. Crime types of convictions.

	One conviction	Two or more convictions	Total
	% (n of convictions)	% (n of convictions)	% (n of convictions)
Property or financial crime	13.3 (10)	51.7 (166)	44.4 (176)
Violent crime	16.0 (12)	8.4 (27)	9.8 (39)
Drug-related crime	9.3 (7)	8.7 (28)	8.8 (35)
Traffic-related crime	46.7 (35)	19.0 (61)	24.2 (96)
Other crime(s)*	14.7 (11)	12.1 (39)	12.6 (50)
At least one crime	18.9 (75)	81.1 (321)	100 (396)

The data includes 123 different respondents. Percentages and frequencies are unweighted. The table includes crime convictions during the past five years (in 2012–2016) for which the sentence was a prison sentence, community service, or a probation order. It is possible one respondent has several convictions. The data did not include petty fines. *Other crimes included e.g.: civil wrong, crimes against official duty and public order.

Table 2. Association between sociodemographic characteristics and having a conviction during the past five years.

	Total	At least one conviction		No convictions
	N	N	(%)	N	(%)	χ2(df), p Value
All	7186	123	2.1	7063	97.9
Gender						χ2(1) = 78.23, p < .001
Female	3911	21	0.7	3890	99.3
Male	3275	102	3.7	3173	96.3
Age group						χ2(5) = 34.21, p < .001
18–24	874	23	3.1	851	96.9
25–34	925	22	3.1	903	96.9
35–44	1016	14	1.6	1002	98.4
45–54	1059	25	2.9	1034	97.1
55–64	1248	25	2.3	1223	97.7
65 or over	2064	14	0.6	2050	99.4
Level of income in 2016 (€/month)						χ2(2) = 40.56, p < .001
Low (Q1)	1800	53	3.8	1747	96.2
Average (Q2 and Q3)	3184	54	2.1	3130	97.9
High (Q4)	2144	16	0.8	2128	99.2
Employment status in 2016						χ2(2) = 107.10, p < .001
Employed	3771	46	1.5	3725	98.5
Unemployed	445	35	9.7	410	90.3
Outside labor force and other^a	2968	42	1.6	2926	98.4
Education						χ2(1) = 34.57, p < .001
No matriculation examination	3586	90	3.0	3496	97.0
Matriculation examination	3600	33	1.0	3567	99.0
Received basic social assistance^b in 2016						χ2(1) = 230.04, p < .001
No	6890	87	1.5	6803	98.5
Yes	316	36	13.5	280	86.5

Percentages are weighted, frequencies unweighted; ^aincludes pensioners, students, persons suffering from long-term illness, caregivers, others and those who don’t want to answer. ^bBasic social assistance is available to individuals and families whose income and assets do not cover their essential daily expenses.

Table 3. Association between gambling behavior and having a conviction during the past five years.

	Total	At least one conviction		No convictions
	N	N	%	N	%	χ2(df), p-value
All	7186	123	2.1	7063	97.9
Gambling severity^a in 2016						χ2(3) = 45.521, p < .001
Does not gamble	1310	12	1.2	1298	98.8
Recreational gambling	5001	81	2.0	4920	98.0
At-risk gambling	626	18	3.5	608	96.5
Problem or pathological gambling	139	11	8.8	128	91.3
Perceived life-time gambling problems						χ2(1) = 46.966, p < .001
Yes	295	20	7.0	275	93.0
No	6891	103	1.9	6788	98.1

^aPPGM: Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure; percentages are weighted, frequencies unweighted; may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Table 4. Logistic regression models on factors associated with having a conviction.

	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Gender
Male			5.004**	3.233–7.745	4.742**	3.047–7.381
Female			Ref.		Ref.
Age
18–24 years			3.742*	1.609–8.703	3.822*	1.596–9.152	4.571**	1.977–10.569
25–34 years			5.838**	2.588–13.169	5.949**	2.555–13.850	6.097**	2.715–13.693
35–44 years			3.267*	1.363–7.831	3.368*	1.370–8.280	3.812*	1.592–9.126
45–54 years			5.047**	2.245–11.347	5.357**	2.312–12.410	6.415**	2.833–14.529
55–64 years			3.266*	1.469–7.260	3.451*	1.508–7.895	4.181**	1.858–9.409
65 or over			Ref.		Ref.		Ref.
Education
No matriculation examination (ME)			2.458**	1.635–3.697	2.446**	1.619–3.694
Has ME			Ref.		Ref.
Level of income
Low (Q1)			2.734*	1.414–5.286	2.800*	1.446–5.423	3.024**	1.593–5.744
Average (Q2 and Q3)			2.333*	1.303–4.176	2.233*	1.244–4.008	2.210*	1.250–3.906
Highest (Q4)			Ref.		Ref.		Ref.
Basic social assistance, BSA
Has received BSA			3.874**	2.531–5.929	3.700**	2.402–5.698
Has not received BSA			Ref.		Ref.
Employment status
Unemployed			2.814**	1.728–4.584	2.788**	1.709–4.548	5.093**	3.266–7.943
Outside labor force			1.231	.735–2.062	1.211	.721–2.033	1.705*	1.044–2.783
Employed			Ref.		Ref.		Ref.
Past-year gambling severity^a
Does not gamble	0.648	.376–1.116			.845	.479–1.491	.663	.381–1.153
At-risk gambling	1.555	.964–2.507			.983	.570–1.545	1.355	.834–2.201
Problem or pathological gambling	2.725*	1.339–5.558			1.223	.576–2.597	2.194*	1.040–4.632
Recreational gambling	Ref.				Ref.		Ref.
Perceived life-time gambling problems
Yes	2.363*	1.345–4.150			1.586	.884–2.844	1.933*	1.077–3.470
No	Ref.				Ref.		Ref.
Log likelihood	1424.2		1190.5		1170.3		1291.9
LR Chi2	38.9		283.2		290.2		168.6
P	<0.001		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001
Nagelkerke R	.029		.209		.216		.126

*p ≤ .05; **p ≤ .001; ^aPPGM: Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure; Weighted data was used.

Data availability statement

Gambling Harms survey data is openly available for research purposes from the Finnish Social Science Data Archive (https://www.fsd.uta.fi/en/). The register-based data was available based on a separate contract with Statistics Finland. The statistical analyses were conducted in a protected environment by Statistics Finland using a remote access system. The results were transferred to the authors through a screening process.