Research

GamCare has urged partners and stakeholders to review the latest insights from updated research on domestic abuse in the UK, conducted in 2025 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

New insights drawn from the 2025 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), are based on a new methodology aimed at capturing the evolving nature of abuse.

This recommendation comes from GamCare’s Women’s Pathway Team, a dedicated research unit focused on understanding the impact of gambling-related harm and addiction on women.

The ONS updated its domestic abuse questions to reflect legal changes, shifting societal attitudes, and increased recognition of non-physical forms of abuse.

The revised questions now include previously under-reported abuse types such as coercive control, economic abuse, health-related abuse, and abuse linked to marital status. The survey also distinguishes between abuse by intimate partners and by family members and, for the first time, asks about how frequently abuse occurs.

In the year ending March 2024, 3.9 million adults aged 16 and over experienced domestic abuse. The data shows that 9.5% of women and 6.5% of men reported being affected. Since the age of 16, more than a quarter of adults—26.1%, or around 12.6 million people—have experienced some form of domestic abuse.

GamCare welcomed the updated figures as a step forward in understanding the full scope of abuse. Although the ONS survey does not directly link gambling to domestic abuse, GamCare notes that many of the women who seek its support report experiences involving financial control and emotional manipulation linked to a partner’s gambling.

The Women’s Pathway Team says it regularly hears from women who are pressured into taking out loans, handing over money, or facing emotional coercion as a result of a partner’s gambling. These forms of abuse often overlap with those now recognised by the ONS, particularly financial and psychological abuse.

GamCare is calling on professionals across health, domestic abuse, criminal justice, and gambling support services to review the ONS data and recognise how gambling-related harm can intersect with domestic abuse. The charity is also urging services to adopt trauma-informed approaches, as many women face significant barriers to seeking help, including manipulation, isolation and fear.

Support is available through GamCare’s Women’s Pathway Programme, which offers individual services and the dedicated Way Forward support group. The organisation emphasises a person-centred approach, stating: “Our priority is to listen to your experience and offer support that centres on your needs.”

Women seeking support can contact the Women’s Pathway Team by emailing womenspathwaysupport@gamcare.org.uk or by calling the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.

Further domestic abuse support is available through Refuge, which runs a 24-hour national helpline on 0808 2000 247. Women’s Aid provides local support through its online directory at www.womensaid.org.uk

Those affected by financial abuse can find resources at survivingeconomicabuse.org, and support for intimate image abuse is available via the Revenge Porn Helpline at www.revengepornhelpline.org.uk

In wider developments, GamCare has launched a tender to appoint an academic partner to conduct an independent review of the Women’s Pathway Programme.

The review will assess how effectively the programme removes barriers that prevent women from accessing gambling-related support, and will help guide its future strategic development.

GamCare’s call for engagement comes at a time of growing recognition that cross-sector collaboration is essential to supporting people affected by both gambling harm and domestic abuse.

The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) has published trends and insights on mental health and common disorders impacting the treatment of adults in the UK.

Commissioned by NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) the study provides insights and the prevalence of the UK’s nine most common mental health disorders including, depression, bipolar, psychosis, ADHD, OCD, trauma, phobias, drug addiction and problem gambling.

Among these, the APMS sheds new light on problem gambling—not as a standalone behavioural issue but as one frequently linked with deeper mental health challenges. Based on structured clinical interviews and a nationally representative sample, the survey finds that just 0.3% of adults in England meet the clinical threshold for problem gambling, with 0.9% of those who gambled in the past year affected.

This figure sits far below the 2.5% prevalence rate cited by the Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) in 2023. That contrast has sparked debate over statistical rigour.

Gambling advisory Regulus Partners, has criticised the Commission’s handling of gambling regulation, argues that the GSGB “remains an outlier when compared to all other official statistics on the prevalence of harmful gambling stretching back almost two decades.”

The APMS, in contrast, offers a clinical, methodologically transparent account. Its true value lies not in prevalence comparisons, but in its analysis of comorbidity: the strong and consistent overlap between problem gambling and psychiatric disorders.

Mental Health applies across all data

Problem gambling in the APMS is revealed to be tightly interwoven with mental ill-health. Adults identified as problem gamblers were substantially more likely to report symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and suicidal thoughts or behaviours. They were also more likely to experience problem debt, unemployment, domestic violence, or trauma.

“Problem gambling, although rare, is consistently associated with a greater burden of psychological, financial and social distress,” the report concludes.

The survey also shows that problem gamblers are more likely to be receiving counselling or psychiatric medication, suggesting that they are already visible within the health system—but perhaps not always recognised through the lens of gambling-related harm.

Sharper focus on shrinking base…
Interestingly, the APMS also finds that gambling participation in the UK is declining. In 2023/24, only 43% of adults reported gambling in the previous year—down from 66% in 2007. While public discourse often implies a growing epidemic, these figures point to a contraction of gambling participation, not its expansion.

This long-term trend undermines claims of gambling “normalisation.”

The implication is not that gambling has ceased to pose a public health risk. Rather, as fewer people gamble, harm may become more concentrated among a smaller, more vulnerable population—often overlapping with those already experiencing mental health challenges.

Framing the evidence
Much of the friction between APMS and GSGB findings can be explained by methodology. The APMS relies on face-to-face household interviews and clinically validated tools, providing a more stable basis for tracking trends over time.

The GSGB, by contrast, uses online self-completed questionnaires, which are cheaper to run but more prone to response bias. That does not invalidate either approach—but it does caution against treating all figures as equally reliable.

Problem Gambling Prevalence: APMS vs GSGB vs HSE (2018)
A comparative graphic that illustrates how survey design can shape outcomes.

Policy must be grounded in evidence
The APMS issues a stern warning: problem gambling is a mental health concern first, and a regulatory issue second. On that basis, it points—indirectly but firmly—to two policy priorities:

Mainstream gambling screening in mental health services
Practitioners in NHS mental health and primary care should routinely assess for gambling harm—particularly among patients presenting with depression, anxiety, trauma, or financial distress.
Focus interventions on high-risk groups
Public health strategies should prioritise the small subset of individuals at highest risk, rather than applying generalised restrictions. This includes tailoring support across healthcare, addiction services, and financial counselling.

The APMS confirms that problem gambling is not a widespread epidemic, but for a narrow group of individuals, it is profoundly damaging. Recognising this comorbidity with mental illness is the first step toward targeted, effective policy. As the availability of rigorous national surveys shrinks, the clarity offered by this one should not be wasted.

Dr Maris Catania has published a paper detailing the effect of problem gambling on wives and partners of former gambling addicts. The study addresses the wide-ranging harms faced by female affected others, spanning from financial consequences,including extreme cases of bankruptcy, and to physical mental health issues. The study conducted in-depth interviews with six affected individuals.…

GambleAware has published the research findings of its report on “Gambling Harms and Neurodivergence: Mapping the Evidence Landscape.”

In 2024, GambleAware commissioned IFF Research and the University of Bristol to examine the intersection of gambling harms with neurodivergent disorders – an area of concern deemed as under-researched.

The study sought to understand whether individuals suffering from neurodivergent disorders such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia are at greater risk of gambling harms?

Research was required for GambleAware to provide better specialised treatment and a dedicated engagement with neurodivergent individuals by removing barriers to treatment and support.

Advised by Dr Amy Sweet and Dr Tim Morris of the University of Bristol, the research was applied over three phases of examining available evidence of neurodivergent disorders and gambling harms, followed by primary research with neurodivergent people experiencing gambling harms.

The study is concl..