Swelogs (The Swedish Longitudinal Gambling Study)

The aim of the study is to obtain up-to-date knowledge of gambling in Sweden as a basis for developing preventative methods. The study is intended to describe gambling in Sweden, to study prevalence and incidence of gambling problems and to monitor and describe changes over time. Furthermore, gambling is studied in relation to other lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, tobacco use, general health, social relations, employment, economy and housing.

Swelogs first cohort 2008–2015

The first Swelogs cohort was initiated in 2008 with a stratified random sample of 15,000 inhabitants aged 16–84 selected from the National Register of the Total Population. Approximately 8,000 people participated in the survey and were then re-contacted on three different occasions – in 2009, 2012 and 2014. Around 3,000 people participated in all four waves. Roughly 2,000 people from the population study were also invited for an in-depth follow-up study in 2011 and 2013 examining risk and protective factors for gambling problems. The last wave of data collection in the 2008 sample was a qualitative follow-up in 2015.

Swelogs 2015–2021

In 2015 a new sample of 21,000 people aged 16–84 was selected. Approximately 9,400 people in this new cohort responded and were then re-contacted in 2018 along with a new sample of 4,000 teenagers aged 16–18. About 5,000 people participated in the 2018 survey and they were re-contacted in 2021 along with a new random sample of 25,000 people aged 16–84. The follow-up study had approximately 3,000 respondents and the new prevalence study around 7,300 respondents.

The results in our reports are presented in Swedish, but each report includes an English summary:

• Gambling and Gambling Problems in Sweden 2008–2018 – Results from Swelogs longitudinal studies (in Swedish)
• Risk and protective factors for problem gambling. Results from an in-depth Swelogs study (in Swedish)