ASTERIG is the English acronym for Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products. It was initially developed in Germany from 2006 to 2010 and became validated globally in 2013 under the head of the Columbia University, New York, USA.

Background

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Gambling and betting is an important part of many people's lives as it gives them great pleasure all over the world. However, every gambling and betting product can have negative consequences; some individuals develop a recurrent, maladaptive pattern of gambling behaviour which can develop into pathological gambling.[1] The individual risk depends on the personality of the player as well as on the characteristics of the gambling product. So, the addiction risk of e.g. a lottery should differ fundamentally from that of a slot machine, whereby criteria such as the size and frequency of a jackpot or the type of offer (offline versus online) can significantly influence the risk potential.[2]

Problematic gambling behaviour is more than just an individual problem. It is often associated with financial losses, disruption of affected families as well as interpersonal relationships, and accompanied by psychiatric disorders.[3] Thus, it can evolve into a social affair that affects the entire personal environment of the pathological player or even the respective national economy.[4]

ASTERIG is a systematic measuring and evaluation tool to assess the addiction risk potential of different gambling products.[5][6] The tool uses numeric scores to measure how high the addiction risk potential of a gambling product can be and highlights where the specific risk potential of each specific gambling product is located. Therefore, ten non-significantly intercorrelating parameters are considered and weighted according to the strength of their influence. It thus allows a mathematical-objective comparison of possible addiction risk potentials between different, possibly also similar gambling products. Additionally, ASTERIG accentuates where exactly, this means, at which characteristic or characteristics of the respective game of chance, the addiction risk potential can be promoted or reduced.

ASTERIG offers the possibility of conducting a quantitative comparison in the form of a systematic measurement and evaluation instrument with comparable scores, more specifically, a comparatively evaluable scale. The tool helps both legislators and jurisprudence as well as the administrative practice in the countries and states, which publicly permit and offer gambling and betting. A scientifically substantiated classification of gambling products into comparatively measurable risk levels is undisputed, also in an international context. Similar research has been carried out in the UK, Finland and Sweden. But as their theoretical or empirical foundations have not yet been published, the scientific assessment of these instruments is difficult.

ASTERIG was originally developed by Franz Wilhelm Peren and Reiner Clement. ASTERIG has been globally validated by:

Expert Country Institution
Carlos Blanco USA Department of Psychiatry Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Alex Blaszczynski AUS University of Sydney, School of Psychology
Reiner Clement GE Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University
Jeffrey Derevensky CAN McGill University, International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviors
Anna E. Goudriaan NL University of Amsterdam, Academic Medical Center
David C. Hodgins CAN University of Calgary, Department of Psychology
Ruth J. van Holst NL University of Amsterdam, Academic Medical Center
Ángela Ibáñez ESP Alcala University, Department of Psychiatry, Ramon y Cajal Hospital
Silvia S. Martins USA Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
Chantal Moersen GE Charité Berlin
Sabrina Molinaro I CNR – Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica Sezione di Epidemiologia Pisa
Adrian Parke UK University of Lincoln
Franz W. Peren GE Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University
Nancy M. Petry USA University of Connecticut, Health Center
Heather Wardle UK National Centre for Social Research

See also

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Further reading

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  • Franz W. Peren: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products: ASTERiG. In: Gaming Law Review and Economics, 15(11), 2011, pp. 671–679
  • Franz W. Peren, Reiner Clement: Evaluation of the Pathological Potential of Gambling Products. In: Gaming Law Review and Economics, 16(4), 2012, pp. 178–183
  • Franz W. Peren, Reiner Clement: Evaluation of the pathologic potential of gambling products. In: The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, 5(3), 2013, pp. 44–54
  • Franz W. Peren: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products: ASTERiG. In: The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, 5(2), 2013, pp. 10–22
  • Carlos Blanco, Alex Blaszczynski, Reiner Clement, Jeffrey Derevensky, Anna E. Goudriaan, David C. Hodgins, Ruth J. van Holst, Angela Ibanez, Silvia S. Martins, Chantal Moersen, Sabrina Molinaro, Adrian Parke, Franz W. Peren, Nancy M. Petry, Heather Wardle: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products ASTERiG. In: The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, 7(1), 2013, pp. 73–87
  • Carlos Blanco, Alex Blaszczynski, Reiner Clement, Jeffrey Derevensky, Anna E. Goudriaan, David C. Hodgins, Ruth J. van Holst, Ángela Ibáñez, Silvia S. Martins, Chantal Moersen, Sabrina Molinaro, Adrian Parke, Franz W. Peren, Nancy M. Petry, Heather Wardle: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products, ASTERIG: A Global Validation. In: Gaming Law Review and Economics, 17(9), 2013, pp. 635–642
  • Judit Tessényi, Franz W. Peren: ASTERIG. A szerencsejáték-termékek függőségi kockázatainak egy lehetséges mérése és empirikus vizsgálata a Magyarországon kínált szerencsejátékokra. In: Alkalmazott pszichológia, 15(4), 2015, pp. 47–56

References

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  1. ^ Carlos Blanco, Alex Blaszczynski, Reiner Clement, Jeffrey Derevensky, Anna E. Goudriaan, David C. Hodgins, Ruth J. van Holst, Angela Ibanez, Silvia S. Martins, Chantal Moersen, Sabrina Molinaro, Adrian Parke, Franz W. Peren, Nancy M. Petry, Heather Wardle: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products – ASTERIG. In: The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, Vol. 7, 2013, No 1, pages 73-87.
  2. ^ Franz W. Peren: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products: ASTERIG. In: The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, 2011, Vol. 5, No. 2, pages 54–66.
  3. ^ "Gaming Assessment Measure - Guidance about Responsible Design". GamGard. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  4. ^ Veikkaus. "Lotto, Keno, Pitkäveto ja muut pelit verkkokaupasta 24h". Veikkaus.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  5. ^ "Spelinstitutet.se | START - Spelinstitutet.se". www.spelinstitutet.se. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  6. ^ Carlos Blanco, Alex Blaszczynski, Reiner Clement, Jeffrey Derevensky, Anna E. Goudriaan, David C. Hodgins, Ruth J. van Holst, Angela Ibanez, Silvia S. Martins, Chantal Moersen, Sabrina Molinaro, Adrian Parke, Franz W. Peren, Nancy M. Petry, Heather Wardle: Assessment Tool to Measure and Evaluate the Risk Potential of Gambling Products, ASTERIG: A Global Validation. In: Gaming Law Review and Economics. Volume 17, 2013, Issue 9, pages 635–642.
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