Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Australia; Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Addict Behav. 2020 Jun;105:106326. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106326. Epub 2020 Jan 21.
Firefighting is a high-risk occupation that accounts for vulnerability to a range of mental health problems and addictive behaviours. However, no research has addressed whether this vulnerability extends to gambling problems, and the aim of this study was thus to provide new data on frequency and implications of such problems in this occupational context. The sample consisted of n = 566 career and retained firefighters who participated in a cross-sectional survey of an Australian metropolitan fire service. The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) was used to operationalise both clinically significant levels of problem gambling (PGSI ≥ 5), and 'at-risk' gambling (PGSI 1-4); alongside measures of major depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PCL-5) and alcohol problems (AUDIT), as well as other addictive behaviours, wellbeing and psychosocial issues. Results indicated 12.3% of firefighters that reported any gambling problems across a continuum of severity (PGSI ≥ 1), including 2.3% that were problems gamblers, and 10.0% reporting at-risk gambling. The weighted prevalence of problem gambling was comparable to other significant mental health conditions including depression and PTSD, while the rate of any gambling problems was high relative to other addictive behaviours. Gambling problems were associated with poor mental health and wellbeing, but not psychosocial indicators (e.g., financial difficulties). The findings suggest that gambling problems across a spectrum of severity may be significant yet hidden issues among emergency service workers, and thus require increased recognition and responses at the organisational level.
消防是一项高风险的职业，容易出现一系列心理健康问题和成瘾行为。然而，目前尚无研究探讨这种脆弱性是否会延伸到赌博问题，因此，本研究旨在为这一职业背景下的赌博问题的频率和影响提供新的数据。样本包括 n=566 名职业和保留消防员，他们参与了澳大利亚大都市消防服务的横断面调查。使用问题赌博严重程度指数（PGSI）来操作临床显著程度的问题赌博（PGSI≥5）和“有风险”的赌博（PGSI 为 1-4）；以及主要抑郁（PHQ-9）、焦虑（GAD-7）、创伤后应激障碍（PCL-5）和酒精问题（AUDIT）的测量，以及其他成瘾行为、幸福感和心理社会问题。结果表明，在严重程度连续体上报告有任何赌博问题的消防员占 12.3%，包括 2.3%的问题赌徒和 10.0%的有风险赌博者。问题赌博的加权患病率与其他重大心理健康状况相当，包括抑郁和 PTSD，而任何赌博问题的发生率与其他成瘾行为相比都很高。赌博问题与心理健康和幸福感差有关，但与心理社会指标（如财务困难）无关。研究结果表明，在一系列严重程度上的赌博问题可能是紧急服务工作者中重要但隐藏的问题，因此需要在组织层面上增加认识和应对。
