Using Misconceptions to Improve Engagement and Preventative Effects Within Gambling Education.

Abstract

Gambling education programs typically focus on promoting gambling as a risky behaviour with harmful consequences. However, young people may not engage with this messaging as they cannot personally relate to the individuals described. Gambling-related misconceptions facilitate development and maintenance of problems and learning gambling mathematics concepts may reduce the likelihood of misconception development. Including gambling misconceptions in education may improve youth engagement by providing a developmental account of gambling problems which is more relevant. Pedagogical literature suggests misconceptions are important in learning complex new material like probabilities and statistics. This research aimed to test if educating young people about gaming machine misconceptions improved their engagement with educational content and understanding of gambling mathematics; and if it reduced existing misconceptions in adult gaming machine players. Three educational videos were developed: risk awareness, information only, and cognitive misconceptions. Results suggest the Misconceptions video was not more engaging than the other videos amongst young audiences, but resulted in significant improvements in misconceptions and understanding of gambling mathematics amongst adult gamblers. Young people who are not heavily involved in gambling may prefer reductive information about gaming machines, however, this type of information is the least likely to produce preventive effects. Gambling education is best delivered by stratifying complex information over time in line with people’s development and gambling experiences. Incorporating gambling education into the mathematics curriculum may ensure crucial information about game design is conveyed but may require a blended approach with multi-media and trained facilitators. Most adolescents in this research did not gamble and future studies should aim to develop a foundational understanding of gambling harm in this population.