Mark Griffiths

Who I am and what I study

I’m Prof. Mark D. Griffiths, a British psychologist whose work has focused for decades on behavioural addictions—especially gambling-related harm, gaming disorder and other technology-mediated compulsive behaviours. My academic home for much of my career has been Nottingham Trent University, where I founded and led research activity that later became widely known through the International Gaming Research Unit (IGRU).

When people ask what my “core topic” is, I usually answer like this: I study why certain activities—gambling, gaming, online behaviours—become compelling for some people, why a minority lose control, and what can be done (clinically, socially, and through product and policy design) to reduce harm while preserving personal freedom.

Early years and education

My route into gambling research began long before “behavioural addiction” became a mainstream phrase. I trained in psychology and developed a strong interest in learning, motivation, and the ways environments shape behaviour. I completed my undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of Bradford and later pursued doctoral research at the University of Exeter, where my PhD focused on fruit machine addiction (a subject that taught me, very quickly, that “the machine” and “the player” can’t be separated—the design, reinforcement schedules, cues, and social context matter deeply).

During those early years I was teaching while studying—getting experience wherever I could, including adult and continuing education teaching. That combination—research plus practical teaching—shaped how I still try to write: I aim to be evidence-based, but also understandable and usable for real people (clinicians, educators, parents, and policy teams), not just academics.

Building a career in gambling studies

After completing my PhD at Exeter, my first full-time lectureship was at the University of Plymouth. Later, in the mid-1990s, I moved to Nottingham Trent University, where I spent the majority of my career and became strongly associated with gambling studies and behavioural addiction research.

At NTU, my work evolved along two tracks:

1. A clinical and psychological track: understanding problem gambling, comorbidities, risk factors, and pathways to harm (and what effective support looks like).
2. A structural and environmental track: examining how products, platforms, and policies can amplify or reduce risk. This is one reason I’ve always taken game design seriously—because features such as speed of play, near-misses, feedback loops, and accessibility can influence behaviour and vulnerability.

Over time, I became known not only for work on gambling, but also for related domains such as gaming disorder and internet-related addictions. The common thread is not that “the internet causes addiction,” but that specific combinations of individual vulnerabilities + situational pressures + product design features can produce patterns that resemble addiction-like loss of control.

The International Gaming Research Unit and applied impact

One of the most practically meaningful parts of my career has been building research capacity around gambling and gaming at Nottingham Trent University, particularly through the International Gaming Research Unit (IGRU).

I’ve always believed that gambling research is at its best when it is:

• Methodologically rigorous (clear definitions, robust measures, transparent limitations),
• Ethically grounded (protecting participants, avoiding sensationalism),
• Policy-aware (understanding regulation and public health realities),
• Design-literate (knowing how games actually work), and
• Clinically relevant (supporting better prevention and treatment).

In practice that meant collaborating across disciplines—psychology, public health, sociology, data science, product safety, and regulation.

My writing and research themes

Across my publications and public work, several recurring themes keep coming back.

1) Harm is not evenly distributed
Most people gamble without severe harm. A minority—often those with existing vulnerabilities, stress, or co-occurring mental health difficulties—experience disproportionate negative outcomes. This is why “one-size-fits-all” messaging is rarely sufficient.

2) Structure matters
I’ve long argued that design characteristics can shape risk—features that increase speed, immersion, intensity, or perceived control can encourage persistence. That idea appears not only in gambling work but also in gaming-related research.

3) Technology changes the exposure equation
Online gambling and mobile platforms increased availability and convenience. That doesn’t automatically create addiction, but it changes the frequency and context of exposure—especially for those already at risk. (My early work on internet gambling and its social impact grew out of this exact concern.)

4) Evidence should guide policy—but policy is never purely “scientific”
Gambling regulation is a balancing act: individual liberty, industry realities, public health, and political choices. Research helps clarify trade-offs and likely outcomes, but societies still have to choose what they prioritise.

Selected works and publications

Below is a curated list of some widely cited or representative works—books, reports, and journal articles—covering gambling, internet gambling, and behavioural addiction. (These are examples, not an exhaustive bibliography.)

If you want a quick, living snapshot of my most-cited work and publication trail, Google Scholar is the most convenient public index.

Where I’ve worked

My career has been anchored in UK higher education, especially Nottingham Trent University, but with formative teaching and research periods that shaped my interests and methods. The list below focuses on the main institutional “places” often associated with my career narrative (student, lecturer, professor, research leadership).

Workplaces (search + sort)

Roles and themes by workplace

How I think about “responsible gambling” and harm reduction

I’ve never been comfortable with slogans that sound good but do little. “Responsible gambling” can’t be only a message printed at the bottom of a page. If we are serious, we have to treat gambling harm like a public health challenge—multi-factorial, unevenly distributed, and influenced by environments and product design.

In my work, I’ve repeatedly returned to three practical questions:

• Who is most vulnerable, and why?
  Stress, mental health symptoms, loneliness, financial pressure, impulsivity, and prior addiction histories can all shape risk.
• Which product or platform features increase intensity?
  Speed of play, instant reward, high event frequency, perceived control, near misses, immersive audiovisual feedback, and 24/7 accessibility are all relevant design characteristics.
• Which interventions actually help?
  Education matters, but so do friction, limit-setting, time-outs, self-exclusion, safer defaults, transparent information, and pathways to human support.

That’s why I have valued collaborations that bring together researchers, clinicians, regulators, and—yes—industry safety teams. If you don’t understand how the product works in reality, you’ll miss the levers that matter most.

Why I write in the first person—sometimes

You asked for this piece to sound like I’m writing it myself. I’ll tell you why I sometimes do use the first person in public-facing work: gambling and gaming harms are not abstract. They touch families, relationships, finances, and mental health. And because the topics are often misunderstood or sensationalised, the tone matters. I prefer calm clarity: define terms, cite what we know, state what we don’t know, and be honest about uncertainty.

And if I have a single “through-line” over the decades, it’s this: research should not simply describe problems; it should help reduce them.

If you want to cite me properly

If you’re preparing a page, a research summary, or a Wikipedia-style box, the safest references for core identity/role are:

• Nottingham Trent University profile (institutional statement of role)
• Google Scholar profile (public record of indexed outputs/citations)
• ORCID (identity record)