Centre for Research on Addiction, Control and Governance had the pleasure of hosting this year’s Current Advances in Gambling Research conference at the University of Helsinki.
CAGR 2026 included almost a hundred oral and poster presentations from 21 different countries. The multidisciplinary conference offered perspectives on gambling research from different countries and fields, including lived experience, clinicians, and regulators.
Three days included a wide selection of research evidence on gambling harms among individuals and communities, effective gambling regulations and interventions, research on industry tactics, as well as critical reflection and new possibilities for gambling research.
Demands for population-level interventions
Ingeborg Rossow (Norwegian Institute of Public Health) opened the conference with a keynote that examined how the total consumption model, based on population level approach to alcohol consumption, can be applied to gambling.
The total consumption model challenges the view that interventions should only be targeted to the small proportion of individuals who gamble the most – instead, decreasing the total consumption of gambling at a population level will also decrease excessive gambling and the harms it causes. Rossow’s opening keynote set a tone for the conference: alongside individual-level treatment, interventions that target the whole population should be a priority in tackling gambling related harm.
The total consumption model challenges the view that interventions should only be targeted to the small proportion of individuals who gamble the most.
Many speakers made the point that effective population level interventions target gambling companies and their harmful practices. Jack McGarrigle (Swansea University) showed how gambling companies collect customer data, process it unlawfully, and how website design strategies such as consent banners can nudge users towards least privacy friendly options. McGarrigle called for stricter policing and enforcing of data privacy laws, as well as banning the use of gambling behavioral data for marketing purposes. Also Leon Xiao (City University of Hong Kong) recommended a ban on targeting specific vulnerable groups in gambling marketing based on his research on how men are targeted and reached most in social media advertising.
In turn, Annie-Claude Savard (Université Laval) presented evidence on how young people are exposed to and affected by gambling advertising, recommending a total ban on online gambling ads. Young people also take part in types of gambling that are not well regulated, such as cryptocasino gambling. Cryptocasinos were examined by Daniel McGrath (University of Calgary). Besides regulating advertising, informing young people about the deceptive design strategies of gambling companies can be an effective intervention, as Juan Navas’ (Complutense University of Madrid) presentation showed.
While gambling operators have responsibilities to, for example, set limits and exclude people from gambling, there is skepticism toward their willingness to do so.
Manase Chiweshe’s (University of Zimbabwe) presentation focused on gambling industry advertising tactics, especially the way gambling industry is tied with sports. According to Chiweshe, restrictions on gambling company ownership of sports teams are needed, as well as adequate resources for enforcement.
Enforcement is crucial, so that gambling harm prevention does not rely on the industry’s own self-regulation, which can be problematic. Maria Persson (University of Stockholm) examined how people who gamble and their close ones perceive gambling companies’ responsibilities in preventing gambling harm, so called duty of care. Persson concluded that while gambling operators have responsibilities to, for example, set limits and exclude people from gambling, there is skepticism toward their willingness to do so, as interventions contradict profit motives.
Gendered, culturally grounded, and community-based perspectives
Many presentations in the conference brought up the gendered nature of gambling harm and the need for gender-sensitive and women-focused services and approaches. Gambling is still sometimes perceived as a masculine activity, and as Adèle Morvannou (Université de Sherbrooke) pointed out in her presentation, women are underrepresented in gambling research and experience high stigma.
Many presentations in the conference brought up the gendered nature of gambling harm and the need for gender-sensitive and women-focused services and approaches.
Other speakers too called for a gendered lens to support services. Kelly Henderson (Addressing Domestic Abuse UK) showed how gambling is tied to domestic abuse, and how this should be acknowledged in housing services for women. Sharon Martin (University of Bristol) presented her innovative research with women who have lived experience of gambling harm. Martin’s research used collaborative songwriting as a research method that produces data in a narrative, participatory, creative, and allows for agency.
Gambling harm does not show in the same way in different culture context. Alongside gender-specific approaches, culturally grounded interventions are needed. Chirstopher Bunn’s (University of Glasgow) presentation on youth-led art workshops among primary school children in Malawi showed that culturally grounded participatory research can be an effective way to change attitudes and knowledge about gambling. Anastasia Constantinides (Asian Family Services) also addressed inequity in gambling interventions. Constantinides presented positive results of a culturally responsive workshop for Asian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, where gambling harm impacts different populations differently.
Communities offer possibilities for care and recovery.
One reoccurring theme in CAGR 2026 was that gambling research should broaden its focus from the individual level. Alongside state interventions, community and family centered perspectives were highlighted. Communities offer possibilities for care and recovery, as Blair Biggar (University of Glasgow) found in his research on grassroot football clubs and gambling.
Community and family perspectives provide important evidence of relational gambling harms that stay hidden when the focus is solely on the individual. Grace Mhalu (Ifakara Health Institute), Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Nicolette Roman (University of the Western Cape) and Lika Beselia’s (Day One Georgia) family approaches to gambling harm showed how gambling impacts the whole family by making the family vulnerable, causing financial instability, emotional and psychological stress, as well as shame and mistrust.
Illustratingly, Mhalu’s research from Tanzania showed how gambling harm affects the family’s food security, healthcare, education, and tie in with conflict, and violence and alcohol use in the family. It also shows how gambling harms reinforce gender inequality and women’s unpaid care burden. “Sports betting is a gendered public health issue, not an individual addiction issue”, Mhalu concluded.
Winds of change in gambling regulation and research
Eva Monson (Université de Sherbrooke) opened in the “Industry tactics and regulation” session by noting how the gambling landscape is changing with the increase of online gambling. According to Monson, people who gamble online are increasingly diverse, but some similarities with offline gambling remain - gambling-related problems still disproportionately affect economically vulnerable groups.
Many speakers brought up evidence on how to best respond to the changing gambling landscape with regulation. Tobias Hayer (University of Bremen) showed in his Friday keynote key lessons from Germany’s gambling reform. Kate Bedford and Theodore Piper (University of Birmingham) examined law as a “distinct public health tool” to reduce harms in their presentation, reviewing studies on legal interventions and their effectiveness.
One challenge for the legal interventions to reduce harm is the industry’s influence over legislative processes. This was brought up in context of Finland, currently moving from monopoly to licensing system. The main justification for the reform was the increase in offshore gambling, highlighted notably by the gambling industry, as presented by Jani Selin (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) who has investigated the legislative process of Finnish gambling reform. According to Riitta Matilainen (Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention), this so-called “channelization discourse” was dominant despite the contesting evidence, and it narrowed the political discussion and alternative solutions in the Finnish gambling reform.
One challenge for the legal interventions to reduce harm is the industry’s influence over legislative processes.
The changing gambling landscape requires gambling researchers to critically examine risks of bias and develop research practices further. The final session was dedicated to advancing gambling research. For example, Jenny Cisneros Örnberg (University of Stockholm) examined gambling research through a gendered lens in Sweden, and found that there has been an increase in research funded by the gambling industry, and that studies funded publicly were more likely to include gender perspectives. Relatedly, Carling Baxter (Greo Evidence Insights) presented an instrument to estimate risk of funding related bias in gambling research.
There were also exciting new possibilities for gambling research, including methodologies that allow gambling harm to be investigated beyond the traditional PGSI scores. Simon van Baal (University of Leeds) showed how large language models can be used to better understand experiences of gambling harm with narrative text data. In turn, Naomi Muggleton (Warwick Business School) closed the conference with her presentation on the new perspectives that population-level banking data can bring to gambling research.
The changing gambling landscape requires gambling researchers to critically examine risks of bias and develop research practices further.
Besides the oral presentations, important part of the conference were the busy poster sessions that allowed researchers to present their research and network. Best posters were voted on each day for most innovative research and best poster design. Prizes were given to Chelsea Hughes (Swansea University), Mark Tarplee (University of Helsinki), Fay Laidler (University of Glasgow), and Edoardo Tozzi (University of Bristol).
Overall, CAGR 2026 showed that to tackle gambling harm, perspectives focused on control and governance are more important as ever. Inspired by this conference, CEACG will continue work among these themes. Perhaps more importantly, it was a blast to host such an amazing group of talented researchers in Helsinki - and we can't wait to attend CAGR 2027 in Montreal!