Volunteerism among gamblers, is it part of the problem?
In gambling studies that use advertisements as a recruitment method, the proportions of problem gamblers in the study samples are larger than those estimated in the general population. Is this finding indicative of a greater interest from problem gamblers to participate in this type of study? This study aims to compare the interest of problem gamblers and non-problem gamblers to participate in gambling studies, indirectly measured by the number of contact information given by participants. A database containing contact informations of 297 gamblers (187 women and 110 men) aged from 55 to 88 years who consented for future gambling studies was analyzed. The results show that problem gamblers give a statistically higher number of contact information than non-problem gamblers when controlling for age, sex and occupation. Problem gamblers’ interest toward research could be explained by hopes of obtaining help or financial compensation. These hypotheses and the ethical considerations related to the financial compensation of gamblers in studies are discussed.