Gambling and Well-being in the RAF

Abstract: This research report from the RAF Benevolent Fund – Gambling and Wellbeing in the RAF – improves our understanding of the wellbeing of serving RAF personnel. The report focuses on gambling in particular, as well as alcohol use and mental health, and takes into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in these areas. This report follows a 2018 RAF Benevolent Fund study, Meeting the Needs of the Serving RAF Community, which identified possible areas of concern among RAF personnel around gambling, heavy drinking and feelings of anxiety and depression. To provide the serving RAF community with appropriate support, we need a much better understanding of the prevalence and severity of these problems, and how they interact with each other. This report is based on robust research that combines a quantitative approach (including an online survey) with a qualitative one (including in-depth follow-up interviews). The study is the first of its kind to determine the frequency and severity of gambling problems in a serving UK military population, and it had the largest response of any study of its kind, world-wide. Our study found that: - while 84.3% reported no problems with gambling, 2% of survey participants gave responses that are indicative of problem gambling, a further 3.9% gave responses indicative of a moderate risk of gambling problems, and 9.8% gave responses indicative of a low risk of gambling problems - 24.3% gave responses indicative of higherrisk levels of drinking, and 5.8% more problematic hazardous/dependent drinking, and - 55.1% reported some symptoms of depression (29.2% mild, 14.1% moderate, 8.4% moderately severe, and 3.4% severe depression), and 60.1% reported some form of anxiety (21.3% mild, 28.3% moderate, 10.5% severe anxiety).