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Article History

Received: 20 December 2024

Accepted: 19 April 2025

First Online: 25 April 2025

Declarations

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: This study adheres to the ethical guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board of Research Conduct. Participation in the study was voluntary, and the study did not deviate from the principle of informed consent. Participants received oral and written information on the research before the interview commenced. Depending on the setting of the interview (remotely or in-person) consent was given orally or with a signed form. The study was approved by the Ethics committee of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL/4626/6.02.01/2022). We also applied for and received research permits from concerned wellbeing services counties to contact social and healthcare professionals for recruitment.

: N/A

: Michael Egerer: None to declare. ME has during the last 3 years received funding from the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies (FFAS) based on §52 of the Finnish Lotteries Act to support conference travel and research. He is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health within the objectives of §52 of the Lotteries Act. The funds based on §52 stem from a mandatory levy on the Finnish gambling monopoly to support research and treatment. The funds are circulated via the Ministry and the monopoly has no influence on how the money is distributed. Neither the Ministry, the FFAS nor the gambling monopoly pose restrictions on publications. ME discloses a fee for delivering a presentation from Bochum University and paid peer review from New-South-Wales Office of Responsible Gambling, as well as, from the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) and the Institute for Research in Public Health (IReSP). Paula Jääskeläinen: PJ has during the last 3 years received funding from the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies (FFAS) based on §52 of the Finnish Lotteries Act to support conference travel and research. She is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health within the objectives of §52 of the Lotteries Act. The funds based on §52 stem from a mandatory levy on the Finnish gambling monopoly to support research and treatment. The funds are circulated via the Ministry and the monopoly has no influence on how the money is distributed. Neither the Ministry, the FFAS nor the gambling monopoly pose restrictions on publications. Virve Marionneau: Competing interests: None to declare. In the past three years, VM discloses funding for gambling-related projects from the Academy of Finland (project 349589), the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (based on the provisions of the Finnish Lotteries Act 52), and the Finnish Ministry of Justice (project RAVE). VM is a member of the Gambling Harms Evaluation Committee (2021–ongoing) under the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. VM discloses a fee for delivering a presentation from the Council of Europe and from Bochum University, paid peer review from Routledge, and funding for travel from the University of Glasgow, University of Bergen, Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, and the Council of Europe. Riitta Matilainen: Competing interests: None to declare. In the past three years, RM discloses a reward fee from the Finnish Ministry of the Interior for being one of the rapporteurs that produced a report of the preliminary study on the monopoly for gambling activities in April 2023. RM is a member of the Gambling Harms Evaluation Committee (2022–ongoing) under the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and a member of the Advisory Board on Gambling (2024 -) under the Finnish Ministry of the Interior. All RM’s conference travel expenses etc. have been paid by RM’s employer EHYT ry. Jussi Palomäki: None to declare. JP is a member of the Gambling Harms Evaluation Committee (2023– ongoing). Eija Pietilä: None to declare. Mika Tsupari: None to declare. Mika Tsupari has received funding from the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies (FFAS/ATS) for 3 years and 3 months for his phd project on the use of classic psychedelics in Finland. David Hodgins: DH received partial salary support from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, a government agency. He received conference travel funds from the International Society for Addiction Medicine. Matthew Young: MMY has no competing interests to declare. Greo Evidence Insights (Greo) is a not-for-profit research and knowledge exchange organization that has received funds in the last five years from the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Canada, and Canadian non-profits, charities, and post-secondary institutions. Greo has also received funds from social responsibility arms of Canadian crown corporations (i.e., state monopolies) that conduct and manage provincial/territorial gambling, regulatory settlement funds (Great Britain), third-sector charities (Great Britain), and international regulators. Greo has not received funding from the gambling industry either directly or indirectly through voluntary donations. Sari Castrén: SC works full time at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and all her research work is funded within the objectives of §52 Appropriation of the Lotteries Act. Castrén also works as a clinical psychologist at Addiktum Clinic Helsinki, Finland as a private practitioner (part time) treating individuals mainly with addiction problems, and at Mehiläinen Medical Center, Forum Helsinki, where she offers treatments to various psychological issues. She was a clinical advisor to Canadian company Alavida, Vancouver, (remote/internet treatment for alcohol disorder). She was an external evaluatior of the therapist’s performance (checklist) in a randomized controlled clinical trial investigating the safely and efficacy of a synthetic psilocybin capsule vs. placebo, with the MET in year 2024. The fee was paid by Clairvoyant Therapeutics Inc. Vancouver, Canada. She is also lecturing about Behavioral Addictions (e.g., national and international conferences) and training and supervising professionals to treat gambling disorder (MI, CBT) as a part of her duty at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and addictions in general privately. She has received fees from Helsinki University, Tampere City, Vocational school Stadi, Mehiläinen for her lectures on behavioural addictions and training professionals and writer’s fees from The Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, Myllyhoitoyhdistys ry, and received fees from Svenska Spel (Sweden) for evaluating research plans (grants) as a member of international examiner team (Research Council) and Tampere University (Finland) and University of Deakin (Australia) for preliminary examination of PhD works and fees for acting as an opponent for PhD dissertations for Lund University (Sweden) and Bergen University (Norway). She has received funding together with Dr. Kalle Lind from the Prison and Probation Service of Finland for a research project titled ‘Problem Gambling Among Criminal Sanction Clients: Preventing Recidivism and Developing Support’. She declares no conflict of interest in relation this manuscript.