To understand the reality of gambling disorder caused by playing pachinko/pachislot, a national pachinko/pachislot survey was conducted. Based on the survey result, we examined the appearance ratio and the characteristics of individuals with a suspected pachinko-pachislot playing disorder. The analysis result indicated that approximately 0.4% of survey respondents were suspected to have the disorder. This appearance ratio was comparable to the prevalence of gambling disorder in the general population. Those who had a suspected disorder were likely to be divorced, and have no savings. Meanwhile, no distinctive characteristics were found in their gender, annual household income, or the highest educational attainment.
Gambling disorder falls into the category of Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders in the DSM-5. Within this category, gambling disorders are included as Non-Substance-Related Disorders while disorders caused by drinking and drug use are considered as Substance-Related Disorders [
There have been only a few studies that examined Japanese gambling disorder with the focus on pachinko/pachislot. One possible reason for this is the use of scales administered primarily in Europe and the US in Japanese research on gambling disorder, prohibiting researchers from studying the disorder with the focus on pachinko/pachislot. To overcome this situation, Akiyama et al. [
It should be noted that, like any entertainment that causes gambling disorders, playing pachinko/pachislot itself will not automatically result in gambling disorder. While exposure to pachinko/pachislot is naturally a prerequisite for Pachinko-pachislot Playing Disorder, there should be player characteristics that have stronger connections to the disorder. Therefore, we closely examined the PPDS responses from individuals who played pachinko/pachislot in the past year to discover how many of them were likely to develop the disorder and what kind of characteristics they had. In this paper, we report results and discussions obtained by reorganizing simple results found in a domestic report written in Japanese [
The sample size was 9000 consisting of males and females from 18 to 79 years old living in Japan selected through two-stage stratified random sampling. There were 5173 questionnaire responses (57.5%) and 5060 (56.2%) were valid.
The survey was conducted from January 4 to February 17, 2017.
“Gender” and “Age” of the respondents were obtained from the Basic Resident Register. Age was then divided into the three categories: “Under 20,” “20 to 64,” and “65 and over.” “Community size” of the respondents was obtained from the population statistics disclosed by municipalities listed in the Basic Resident Register and was divided into the four categories: “City designated by government ordinance or Tokyo’s 23 wards,” “City (population of 150,000 and more),” “City (population less than 150,000),” and “Town or village.”
As indicators of the socio economic status of the respondents, data on their “Annual household income” and “Amount of savings” was collected. Respondents who knew their annual household income or amount of savings used a 14-point scale ranging from “Less than 1 million yen” to “13 million yen or more” to answer. If they did not know their annual household income or amount of savings, they were asked to choose “Don’t know.” In the tabulation process, “Annual household income” was divided into five categories: “Don’t know” and four categories ranging from “Less than 3 million yen” to “8 million yen or more.” Similarly, “Amount of savings” was divided into the three categories: “Don’t know,” “Have no savings,” and “Have savings.” As an indicator of educational level, the respondents were asked about their highest educational attainment.
The respondents were asked whether or not they had divorce experience.
Regarding nine types of official gambling games, such as horse racing and the lottery, the respondents were asked how frequently they had played them in the past 12 months. Again, a 4-point scale was used. In the tabulation process, respondents who experienced at least one of the nine gambling games were categorized as “Have experience” and those who had no experience with any of the gambling games were categorized as “No experience.”
The PPDS was developed based on items in gambling disorder scales such as the SOGS, DSM-IV, NODS, PGSI, and G-SAS [
n | M | SD | |
---|---|---|---|
Motivation | 576 | 8.56 | 3.23 |
Preoccupation and needs | 579 | 3.06 | 1.35 |
I cannot stop thinking about pachinko/pachislot. | 579 | 1.61 | 0.78 |
Once pachinko/pachislot comes into my mind, I feel compelled to play it | 579 | 1.45 | 0.70 |
Escape | 576 | 5.50 | 2.29 |
I feel calm only when I am playing pachinko/pachislot | 578 | 1.79 | 0.89 |
I don’t have to think about anything else while I am playing pachinko/pachislot | 577 | 2.07 | 1.01 |
To escape from stress, pachinko/pachislot is indispensable for me | 579 | 1.64 | 0.87 |
Behavior | 577 | 9.37 | 3.12 |
Tolerance | 578 | 2.82 | 1.22 |
I want to get more money so much that the amount of money I spend on pachinko/pachislot is increasing | 578 | 1.51 | 0.76 |
Since I feel less anxiety or regret about losing at pachinko/pachislot than before, I am spending more time and money on this activity | 579 | 1.31 | 0.57 |
Withdrawal | 578 | 2.47 | 0.92 |
After reducing the frequency or time of playing pachinko/pachislot, I started to feel restless | 578 | 1.31 | 0.58 |
When I tried to quit pachinko/pachislot, I couldn’t concentrate on work, doing housework, or study | 578 | 1.16 | 0.44 |
Chasing losses and difficulty controlling yourself | 579 | 4.09 | 1.61 |
When I lost at pachinko/pachislot, I have returned to play it on the same day or the next day in order to recover the loss | 579 | 2.10 | 0.87 |
I have spent much more money on pachinko/pachislot than the planned daily limit | 579 | 1.99 | 0.90 |
Consequence | 562 | 20.14 | 6.15 |
Health problems | 577 | 2.19 | 0.64 |
Playing pachinko/pachislot worsened my physical illness under treatment | 578 | 1.10 | 0.36 |
Playing pachinko/pachislot worsened my mental illness under treatment | 577 | 1.09 | 0.31 |
Sense of guilt and shame | 572 | 5.29 | 2.16 |
For the problems I caused by playing pachinko/pachislot, I have felt sorry for causing trouble for my family and people around me | 578 | 1.96 | 0.92 |
I sometimes feel guilty about playing pachinko/pachislot | 575 | 1.63 | 0.81 |
When I thought of my own problems caused by playing pachinko/pachislot, I have felt embarrassment or shame | 574 | 1.70 | 0.83 |
n | M | SD | |
---|---|---|---|
Secret and lies | 578 | 3.08 | 1.48 |
I have lied in order to hide my losses or debts resulting from pachinko/pachislot | 578 | 1.50 | 0.78 |
I have lied to my family, friends, co-workers, or other people to play pachinko/pachislot | 579 | 1.58 | 0.81 |
Financial problems | 572 | 2.79 | 1.65 |
I have put myself into financial difficulties by playing pachinko/pachislot and asked someone for financial support | 579 | 1.32 | 0.67 |
I have borrowed money from someone in order to play pachinko/pachislot | 579 | 1.31 | 0.68 |
Have you borrowed money from the following in order to play pachinko/pachislot or to repay debts from playing pachinko/pachislot? (1. Family or household budget, 2. Friend or acquaintance, 3. Bank, 4. Loan company, 5. Consumer finance company, 6. Loan shark, 7. Others, 8. Never borrowed before) | 572 | 0.16 | 0.51 |
Study and work | 579 | 2.22 | 0.68 |
By playing pachinko/pachislot, I almost lost or I have lost opportunities for education | 579 | 1.13 | 0.41 |
By playing pachinko/pachislot, I have made mistakes at work or almost lost my job | 579 | 1.09 | 0.35 |
Relationship with important people | 579 | 2.46 | 1.03 |
Playing pachinko/pachislot almost broke or has broken the relationship with my family or boyfriend/girlfriend | 579 | 1.16 | 0.48 |
I have had an argument with a person that I live with over how I spend money on pachinko/pachislot | 579 | 1.31 | 0.64 |
Suicide | 578 | 2.10 | 0.50 |
I was so emotionally distressed about my pachinko or pachislot problems that I have tried to kill myself | 578 | 1.07 | 0.32 |
As a result of being emotionally distressed about my pachinko/pachislot problems, I have thought about ending my life | 578 | 1.03 | 0.23 |
PPDS total score | 558 | 38.09 | 10.79 |
who played pachinko/pachislot in the last 12 months about their behavior and experience associated with gambling disorder in that period. Among 27 items, 26 were in the form of a 4-point scale ranging from “Disagree” to “Agree” or from “Never” to “Often.” The remaining item was about borrowing money and was presented in the form of a multiple answer question. The respondents were asked to select all places from which they borrowed money. Responses on the 4-point scales were converted into 1 to 4 points, with “Disagree” and “Never” being 1 point. Responses on the multiple answer question on borrowing money were converted into 0 to 7 points. The score was 0 if the respondents selected “Never borrowed,” but otherwise the number of places from which the respondents borrowed money became the points for that question. The sum of the 4-point scale points and the points for the question on borrowing money were used in the analysis as the Pachinko-pachislot Playing Disorder Scale score (PPDS score). The obtained PPDS score ranged from 26 to 111.
A request for survey participation was sent by mail to 9000 individuals chosen by two-stage stratified random sampling. More specifically, postcards requesting survey participation were first sent to them and a package of survey materials followed. The questionnaire was collected either manually by investigators, via mail, or through a web-based form. Those who submitted responses received a 1000 yen-worth reward either directly or via mail.
Using the cut-off value proposed by Akiyama et al. [
There were no significant differences in the past-year gambling experience (excluding pachinko/pachislot) between those who had gambling disorder and those who did not. Engagement in non-pachinko/pachislot gambling games did not indicate any possibility of resulting in higher likeliness of developing Pachinko-pachislot Playing Disorder (χ2(1) = 1.04, n.s., V = .04; see
Non-Disorder Group | Disorder Group | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
n = 537 | n = 21 | ||||
n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
Gender | |||||
Female | 134 | (25.0) | 2 | (9.5) | |
Male | 403 | (75.0) | 19 | (90.5) | |
Age | |||||
Under 20 | 5 | (0.9) | 0 | (0.0) | |
20 to 64 | 423 | (78.8) | 18 | (85.7) | |
65 and over | 109 | (20.3) | 3 | (14.3) | |
Highest educational attainment | |||||
Junior high school | 87 | (16.2) | 4 | (19.0) | |
Senior high school | 237 | (44.1) | 10 | (47.6) | |
Specialized training college or vocational school (after graduating from senior high school) | 61 | (11.4) | 0 | (0.0) | |
Two year college or college of technology | 20 | (3.7) | 1 | (4.8) | |
University (including 6-year programs) | 92 | (17.1) | 4 | (19.0) | |
Graduate school | 9 | (1.7) | 0 | (0.0) | |
No response | 31 | (5.8) | 2 | (9.5) | |
Annual household income | |||||
Less than 3 million yen | 87 | (16.2) | 5 | (23.8) | |
3 million yen to less than 5 million yen | 121 | (22.5) | 7 | (33.3) | |
5 million yen to less than 8 million yen | 108 | (20.1) | 3 | (14.3) | |
8 million yen or more | 57 | (10.6) | 1 | (4.8) | |
Don’t know | 40 | (7.4) | 2 | (9.5) | |
No response | 124 | (23.1) | 3 | (14.3) | |
Amount of savings | |||||
Have no savings | 80 | (14.9) | 10 | (47.6) | |
Have savings | 335 | (62.4) | 3 | (14.3) | |
Don’t know | 91 | (16.9) | 7 | (33.3) | |
No response | 31 | (5.8) | 1 | (4.8) | |
Divorce experience | 78 | (14.5) | 8 | (38.1) |
Community size | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
City designated by government ordinance or Tokyo’s 23 wards | 132 | (24.6) | 7 | (33.3) | |
City (population of 150,000 and more) | 150 | (27.9) | 2 | (9.5) | |
City (population of less than 150,000) | 194 | (36.1) | 9 | (42.9) | |
Town or village | 61 | (11.4) | 3 | (14.3) | |
Other gambling games (past 12 months) | 278 | (51.8) | 9 | (42.9) |
No significant gender difference was found between the Disorder and Non-Disorder Groups. In both groups, male pachinko/pachislot players accounted for more than the female counterparts (χ2(1) = 2.61, n.s., V = .07). No significant age differences were found between the two groups either. There were no particular age groups having high percentages of individuals with gambling disorder (χ2(2) = 0.68, n.s., V = .03). There was also no significant difference in distribution of areas of living (χ2(3) = 3.93, n.s., V = .08). Although some studies reported that the prevalence of gambling disorder was higher for men or younger age groups [
Individuals with gambling disorder and those without showed no differences in the distributions of the two socio-economic status indicators, “Highest educational attainment” and “Annual household income”. (Highest education attainment: χ2(5) = 3.08, n.s., V = .08; Annual household income U = 2380.50, n.s., r = −.07). On the other hand, a significant difference was found in the distribution of “Amount of savings.” The Disorder Group had a higher percentage of individuals who reported they had no savings (χ2(2) = 23.98, p < .001, V = .21). SES, like gender, is considered to be a risk factor for gambling disorder. However, the influence of SES could change with other variables as reported in a previous study where its relationship with gambling disorder became apparent only after other risk factors such as race and marital history were controlled [
The relationship between problem gambling and negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety, and stress, has been pointed out in gambling disorder research. Some studies concluded that gambling was an escape-based coping strategy and was a maladaptive coping style [
The present study indicated that approximately 0.4% of the survey respondents had Pachinko-pachislot Playing Disorder. The study also showed that individuals with a suspected disorder were more likely than those without it to have been divorced, and have no savings. There were not enough levels of difference in gender, annual household income, or the highest education attainment between the two groups to consider them as characteristics of either group. Based on these findings, an important risk factor for Pachinko-pachislot Playing Disorder may be the personality that easily accepts pachinko/pachislot as a form of entertainment that provides enjoyment or allows an escape from uncomfortable situations rather than the social background of the individual. Note, however, the present study was a one-point correlational study. Examination of the influences or causal relationships of these variables will require detailed investigation through longitudinal studies involving surveys conducted twice or more.
All authors designed the study, had advises during the study and reviewed the completed manuscript. YH performed the statistical analysis and wrote the manuscript. HI monitored data collection. KA and AS performed the statistical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Kikunori Shinohara is on the board of trustees of Nichiyukyo (Japan Pachinko Pachi-Slot industry association).
This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board for Research in the Humanities at Ochanomizu University (Approval No. 2016-98).
This study is wholly funded by the Nikkoso Research Foundation for a Safe Society.
Horiuchi, Y., Sakamoto, A., Akiyama, K., Shoun, A., Nishimura, N., Shinohara, K., Komoto, Y., Sato, T., Ishida, H. and Makino, N. (2018) Paper Title. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 8, 120-130. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpsych.2018.82011