Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health
This research aimed to empirically test factors relating to New Zealand (NZ) Asian migrants’ experiences with gambling and mental health, as identified in the Integrated Tree Model, supporting its use as a holistic approach to addressing gambling harm.
The study employed a three-phase, mixed-methods design consisting of: a literature review of peer reviewed and grey literature from 2000 to 2024, focusing on Asian migrants in Western contexts, qualitative interviews with 25 people from Asian migrant communities with an experience of gambling harm through their own or a family member’s gambling, and a quantitative nationally representative survey of Asian adults living in NZ.
The Integrated Tree Model has the following elements:
- roots – cognitive factors
- trunk – demographic and personality influences
- branches, leaves – experiences and acculturative stressors
- flowers, fruits – comorbid mental health and other issues
- soil and water – microsystem (eg, family and close friends)
- air, moisture and ventilation – mesosystem (eg, accessibility of gambling opportunities, media and marketing messaging)
- sunlight, temperature, climate – macrosystem (eg, regulatory environment in New Zealand compared with most Asian countries)
- tree variations – cultural influences on personal and experiential risk factors.
The research showed that Asians living in New Zealand with lived experience of gambling harm face multifaceted drivers that align with the factors identified in the Integrated Tree Model. The model illuminates the interconnected factors that increase vulnerability to harm, from deeply rooted cultural beliefs about luck and fate, to personal experiences like migration recency and socioeconomic status, to environmental pressures such as pervasive gambling advertising and venue accessibility.
