Title: Football Fans and Betting (FFAB): a feasibility study and randomised pilot trial of a group-based intervention to reduce gambling involvement among male football fans
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: This study addresses an urgent and growing public health problem: gambling among the high-risk population of male sports bettors. Sports betting is a big growth area for the gambling industry. It has dramatically increased since the 2005 Gambling Act, and men who watch football have become a key target for industry advertising. This trades on men’s passion for football to draw them into gambling and to encourage them to believe their knowledge of the sport will give them an advantage. We believe it is important to counterbalance these trends with interventions that prevent the harms of gambling. These harms affect finances, interpersonal relations, health and wellbeing, and impact on vulnerable people the most. To date, there are no independent, national initiatives that exist to prevent gambling harm, either among the general population, or among this particular target group._x000D_ _x000D_ The goal of this research is to carry out a pilot study of a new programme - Football Fans and Betting (FFAB). It aims to support men who gamble regularly to reduce how much time and money they spend on betting, and so improve their wellbeing. FFAB draws on learning from the highly successful Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme, which our team’s research has shown to be very effective for men. FFIT used the appeal of football clubs to provide a supportive space for men to learn new techniques for weight reduction and healthy living. Through group sessions led by football coaches, they developed a toolkit of behaviour change skills such as self-monitoring and goal-setting, in a supportive environment that enabled mutual learning. _x000D_ _x000D_ We believe that many of these features, particularly the draw of the football club, and the sociable, group-based context of the programme, can be help inform a programme to reduce involvement with gambling. We are being guided in this by people who have direct experience of gambling, including organisations that provide treatment for people with gambling problems, and former problem gamblers. FFAB will be delivered in three phases. In the first, we will talk to gamblers, sports fans and team coaches and use this information to refine materials for the programme. In the second stage, specially trained coaches will deliver the programme in group sessions in 2 clubs to see if it works. Based on feedback from this, in the third phase, we will then roll out the programme in 4 football clubs in the north of England. The sessions will support men to set personalised targets for reductions in the time and money they spend gambling, and will also cover important issues such as: explaining how gambling works; looking at impacts on health and relationships, industry tactics; and what people can do to reduce their betting. We will measure changes in gambling behaviour by looking at differences in how much time and money people spend on betting between the start and end of the programme. We will have a comparison group who have not gone through the programme to help us understand if any changes are the result of the group sessions or not. At the end, we will use our professional networks in the fields of gambling, sport, public health and policy to communicate our findings to a wide general audience.

Lay abstract: Sports betting is a growth area for the gambling industry. Men are its primary target audience, and are at higher risk from the harms of gambling. This study draws on evidence of using sports settings to engage participants in behaviour change interventions (eg Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme and European Fans in Training (EuroFIT)). These programmes used the social context of the football club to introduce a ‘toolkit’ of behaviour change skills (eg self-monitoring, goal setting) to men in a supportive group setting. Working with experts from gambling treatment/prevention, the FFAB programme has been carefully developed, drawing on learning from these programmes, to produce a 9 week programme incorporating relevant Behaviour Change Theories, with the aim of reducing sports bettors’ gambling involvement and to improve their wellbeing. _x000D_ _x000D_ The objectives of the project are: to refine and test the intervention among a population of sports bettors in football clubs in the NW of England; test the feasibility of delivery; pilot the delivery under research conditions; assess research procedures for a future RCT of an optimised FFAB programme, and refine our logic model. The study population is regular (at least weekly) male sports bettors, 18-44, who want to reduce their involvement in betting in the context of improving health and wellbeing. Those identified as problem gamblers are ineligible and will be signposted for specialist treatment/support services. _x000D_ This research project is a mixed methods feasibility study and pilot randomised controlled parallel group trial, carried out over three phases. Phase 1 (months 0-3) involves: refining the FFAB programme, conducting focus groups with sports bettors to test recruitment and development of the smartphone diary app to help record and log gambling behaviour. Phase 2 (months 4-8) is a feasibility pilot conducted in two professional football clubs to test: recruitment and retention (rates monitored to assess this); acceptability of the programme to participants, coaches and clubs (assessed through observations of sessions and post intervention interviews); implementation by coaches (observations and interviews) and feasibility and further development of the app (review of logged data). Phase 3 (months 9-24) is a pilot, parallel two-group randomised controlled trial (RCT) of FFAB conducted in four football clubs. 120 participants will be randomised into one of two arms: an intervention arm who will receive FFAB immediately; or a control arm who will only be offered the FFAB intervention following the end of the project. _x000D_ _x000D_ Our study outcomes include refinement of our recruitment and intervention approach (phase 1), feasibility of the FFAB intervention within clubs (phase 2) and an optimised pilot randomised control trial of FFAB (phase 3). _x000D_ _x000D_ Primary outcomes for phase one include qualitative feedback from focus groups on the acceptability of the FFAB programme to our target group, and revision and refinement of the recruitment strategy. Other outcomes from this phase include production of the final FFAB intervention protocol and coach manual, and qualitative feedback from a pilot test of the smartphone app diary data to understand ease of use, frequency of use and quality of data entered._x000D_ _x000D_ Primary outcomes for phase 2 include assessing the acceptability of the FFAB programme to participants, involving reviewing data on recruitment, retention, participation and drop-out rates, qualitative feedback from participants, and review of smartphone app data. It also includes assessing the acceptability of the FFAB delivery for coaches, based on qualitative data from coaches and team observation of programme sessions. Other outcomes from this phase will be further refinement of the FFAB intervention manual and coaches delivery manual, based on the feedback given above and finalisation of the recruitment and retention strategy. _x000D_ _x000D_ Primary outcomes for the pilot RCT [phase 3] will include assessing the potential effectiveness of FFAB by improvements to wellbeing (WEMWBS, ONS wellbeing questions) and reductions in gambling involvement (time and money spent; frequency of gambling etc). Secondary outcomes include improvements in social support, self-esteem and changes in how people feel about their gambling. Focus groups with participants and clubs, interviews with non-completers and review of data completeness and data quality for the proposed efficacy outcome measures and the app will assess the FFAB programme process._x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ Using the team’s network and our PPI partners, we will disseminate findings to policy makers, academics, the public and sports stakeholders, highlighting findings from the first robust evaluation of an independent, theoretically informed and systematic intervention for male sports bettors.

Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE