Gambling Problems and Military- and Health-Related Behaviour in UK Armed Forces Veterans

Figures & data

Table 1. Age, marital status, ethnicity, educational qualifications, and socio-economic class compared between veterans and non-veterans by sex

Variable	Males					Females
	Veterans (n = 210)		Non-veterans (n = 420)		p	Veterans (n = 47)		Non-veterans (n = 94)		p
	n	%	n	%		n	%	n	%
Age group
16–24	5	4.36	10	3.70		4	17.20	8	11.99
25–34	21	13.80	42	12.22		6	11.82	12	13.87
35–44	59	27.21	118	29.58	0.960	10	18.36	20	21.73	0.892
45–54	48	24.28	96	24.36		12	28.19	24	24.52
55–64	77	30.35	154	29.87		15	24.42	30	27.89
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	150	79.59	272	72.28		26	65.38	62	70.42
Single	24	10.65	80	17.16	0.116	7	17.36	19	22.31	0.223
Widowed/divorced/separated	36	9.76	68	10.56		14	17.25	13	7.27
Ethnic origin
White	200	94.49	387	89.55	0.085	44	85.84	87	91.37	0.476
Non-White	10	5.51	32	10.45		3	14.16	6	8.63
Educational qualifications
Degree	45	23.45	99	24.92		9	23.31	18	19.51
Teaching, (HND), nursing	15	7.17	36	8.10		6	13.08	4	5.08
A-level	38	19.48	72	17.61	0.046*	10	18.87	12	13.25	0.321
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) or equivalent	65	32.31	107	28.18		13	35.22	31	39.47
Foreign/other	11	4.50	5	9.70		2	3.15	7	6.36
No qualifications	30	13.08	94	20.21		5	6.36	15	16.33
Socioeconomic class
Managerial & professional	71	36.38	163	40.86		16	34.20	23	24.54
Intermediate occupations/small employers  & own account workers	31	15.11	62	16.19	0.321	5	9.96	16	18.03	0.342
Routine/lower tech/lower supervisory	73	34.10	109	26.17		9	22.49	27	32.06
Never worked/long-term unemployed	34	14.41	84	16.78		17	33.35	27	25.37

Note. HND = Higher National Diploma; GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education. p = Pearson’s χ² with Rao & Scott corrections for complex survey design. The asterisk (*)denotes significant result. All percentages weighted to account for survey design. Frequencies are unweighted and may not sum due to missing values. Data from a similarly extracted 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey veterans’ sample were previously analyzed and reported by Dighton et al. (2018) and Woodhead et al. (2011).

Table 2. Gambling score, measured using DSM-IV criteria, by veteran status and leaver status

Variable	Veterans (n = 242)		Early leavers (n = 106)		Non-veterans (n = 477)		Non-early leavers (n = 135)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	p
Gambling score
No risk	233	96.39			456	96.01			0.819	0.108
At risk	6	2.21			18	3.54			0.368
Problem	3	1.41			1	0.17			0.036*
Pathological	0	0			2	0.03			0.337
Gambling score
No risk			103	97.17			129	95.56	0.512	0.292
At risk			1	0.94			5	3.70	0.172
Problem			2	1.89			1	0.74	0.426
Pathological			0	0			0	0	0

Note. p = Pearson's χ² with Rao & Scott corrections for complex survey design. The asterisk (*)denotes significant result. All percentages weighted to account for survey design. Frequencies are unweighted and may not sum due to missing values.

Table 3. Mental health, substance abuse, and financial management by veteran status and gender

Vartiable	Males						Females
	Veterans (n = 210)		Non-veterans (n = 420)		p	Odds ratio (95% CI)	Veterans (n = 47)		Non-veterans (n = 94)		p	Odds ratio (95% CI)
	n	%	n	%			n	%	n	%
Mental health
Trauma experienced (ever)	102	49.49	160	36.67	0.005*	1.69 (1.17–2.44)	19	41.26	29	32.63	0.395	1.45 (0.61–3.44)
Likely PTSD	7	2.84	10	1.98	0.475	1.45 (0.52–4.03)	3	4.38	6	6.22	0.655	0.69 (0.13–3.57)
Suicide attempt (ever)	12	4.85	16	2.93	0.182	1.69 (0.78–3.68)	9	15.71	9	7.89	0.139	2.17 (0.76–6.22)
Neurotic symptoms (any)	23	8.44	59	11.39	0.237	0.71 (0.41–1.25)	14	26.44	26	29.58	0.691	0.86 (0.39–1.85)
Substance abuse
Alcohol dependence (SAD-Q 4+)	22	10.61	38	8.17	0.378	1.33 (0.70–2.53)	0	0	6	5.56	0.111	n/a
Drinking problem (AUDIT 8+)	74	36.21	147	33.59	0.546	1.12 (0.77–1.63)	7	11.49	15	14.66	0.606	0.76 (0.26–2.20)
Ever used drugs	49	27.36	123	29.74	0.577	0.89 (0.59–1.34)	12	28.36	23	19.78	0.293	1.61 (0.66–3.91)
Dependent on a drug	10	5.20	13	2.69	0.115	1.98 (0.83–4.73)	0	0	2	1.68	0.351	n/a
Financial management
Had to borrow money	15	6.17	30	6.98	0.709	0.88 (0.44–1.75)	2	5.75	13	12.86	0.235	0.41 (0.09–1.86)
Behind in paying bills	20	9.70	41	10.05	0.902	0.96 (0.52–1.79)	6	11.66	11	11.97	0.960	0.97 (0.32–2.99)
Spent money on gambling	166	79.09	304	73.43	0.132	1.37 (0.91–2.06)	27	51.49	59	62.89	0.264	0.63 (0.27–1.43)

Note. CI = confidence interval; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder. p = Pearson’s χ² with Rao & Scott corrections for complex survey design.

^{The asterisk (*)} denotes significant result. All percentages weighted to account for survey design. Frequencies are unweighted and may not sum due to missing values. Odds ratio adjusted for age. Data from a similarly extracted 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey veterans’ sample were previously analyzed and reported by Woodhead et al. (2011).

Table 4. Mental health, substance abuse, and financial management by leaver status

Variable	Early leavers (n = 114)		Non-early leavers (n = 142)
	n	%	n	%	p	Odds ratio (95% CI)
Mental health
Trauma experienced (ever)	46	40.24	74	54.70	0.041*	0.56 (0.32–0.98)
Likely PTSD	3	1.53	7	4.41	0.153	0.34 (0.07–1.61)
Suicide attempt (ever)	12	7.21	9	5.88	0.653	1.24 (0.48–3.23)
Neurotic symptoms (any)	21	12.02	16	10.44	0.703	1.17 (0.52–2.67)
Substance abuse
Alcohol dependence (SAD-Q 4+)	12	11.98	10	6.64	0.173	1.91 (0.74–4.95)
Drinking problem (AUDIT 8+)	31	29.03	50	35.80	0.274	0.73 (0.42–1.28)
Ever used drugs	32	32.21	29	23.79	0.161	1.52 (0.84–2.75)
Dependent on a drug	4	4.22	6	4.64	0.853	0.90 (0.31–2.65)
Financial management
Had to borrow money	14	10.71	3	2.76	0.072	3.99 (0.79–20.0)
Behind in paying bills	17	12.51	8	7.06	0.200	1.88 (0.70–5.04)
Spent money on gambling	86	74.07	107	76.44	0.718	0.88 (0.44–1.77)

Note. CI = confidence interval; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder; SAD-Q = the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire; AUDIT = Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. p = Pearson’s χ² with Rao & Scott corrections for complex survey design. The asterisk (*)denotes significant result. All percentages weighted to account for survey design. Frequencies are unweighted and may not sum due to missing values. Odds ratio adjusted for age.

Dighton, G., Roberts, E., Hoon, A. E., & Dymond, S. (2018). Gambling problems and the impact of family in UK Armed Forces veterans. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7, (2), 355–365. doi:10.1556/2006.7.2018.25

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Woodhead, C., Rona, R. J., Iversen, A., MacManus, D., Hotopf, M., Dean, K., … Wessely, S. (2011). Mental health and health service use among post-national service veterans: Results from the 2007. Psychological Medicine, 41, 363–372. doi:10.1017/S0033291710000759

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