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Harm Reduction and Electronic Gambling Machines: Does this Pair Make a Happy Couple or is Divorce Foreseen?

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Abstract

Recent empirical studies have evaluated if modifying electronic gambling machine (EGM) structural features could encourage safer gambling behaviors and decrease gambling-related problems. Several of these studies refer to Harm Reduction (HR), suggesting that the HR paradigm is useful to design, implement and test the efficacy of various prevention and treatment programs applied to EGM users. After reviewing the origins of HR and specifying its operational definition, this paper discusses the relevance of the HR framework for the study of measures related to EGM use and gambling in general. Examples are given to illustrate the arguments. The results show that HR has been over-inclusive in the field of gambling. A specific and operational definition and application of the HR framework is required for HR to be useful for the advancement of research in the gambling field.

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Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Christian Jacques who challenged our views of harm reduction. His insight substantially improved the quality of our paper.

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  1. Centre québécois d’excellence pour la prévention et le traitement du jeu, École de psychologie, Université Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada, G1K 7P4

    Michael Cantinotti & Robert Ladouceur

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  1. Michael Cantinotti
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  2. Robert Ladouceur
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Correspondence to Michael Cantinotti.

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Disclosure: At the time of the study, Michael Cantinotti held a scholarship from the Loterie Romande (public-benefit lottery in Switzerland) for his doctoral studies. This study was funded by the Fonds pour la prévention et le traitement du jeu of the Fondation de l’Université Laval. During the study, the Centre québécois d’excellence pour la prévention et le traitement du jeu received financial support from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux du Québec, the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche pour la Santé et la Culture, Loto-Québec, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Center, and Harrah’s Operating Funds.

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Cantinotti, M., Ladouceur, R. Harm Reduction and Electronic Gambling Machines: Does this Pair Make a Happy Couple or is Divorce Foreseen?. J Gambl Stud 24, 39–54 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-007-9072-6

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