Mental health and gambling in Italy during the economic crisis

we investigated the relation between mental health and gambling during the recent economic crisis in Italy, by means of a descriptive study. The following regional variables were collected: health indicators, i.e. male and female rate of hospitalizations due to psychiatric disorders per 100,000 people (as proxy of the prevalence of mental disorders) and rate of hospital beds per 10,000 people; macroeconomic indicators (male and female unemployment rate, real GDP per capita); gambling indicators (annual overall expenditure in euros on gambling, namely slot machines, Bingo, horserace betting, sports betting and numerical games). Statistics were carried out by means of fixed-effects panel regressions. All data were retrieved from the Italian Institute of Statistics and from the Italian Agency of customs and monopolies. Expenditure on gambling in Italy steadily increased in years 2006-2016, rising from 7 billion euros to 13 billion euros. In the same period, a steady decrease in GDP was noticeable, coupled with increased UR. At regional level, Lombardy had the highest expenditure on gambling (290 Euros per adults in 2016), while Sicily, Calabria and Basilicata had the lowest. The results of regression models are displayed in Table I. Among both men and women increased UR was associated with decreased hospitalizations due to alcohol and substance use disorders, and with increased hospitalizations due to anxiety, somatoform, dissociative and personality disorders. Only among men, increased UR was associated with increased hospitalizations due to mood disorders at the 10% significance level. With respect to the rate of growth of GDP, a decrease in the latter was associated with increased substance and mood disorders among men. The same results were noticeable among women, though at the 10% significance level when substance use disorder was investigated. Noticeably, decreased GDP was associated with increased alcohol consumption among women but not among men