In cross-sectional gambling studies, friends, family,and others close to those experiencing gambling problems (concerned significant others ‘CSOs’) tend to report detriments to their
quality of life. To date, however, there have been no large, population-based longitudinal
studies examining the health and wellbeing of CSOs. We analyse longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to examine the 18-
year trajectories of general, social, health and financial wellbeing of household CSOs (n =
477) and compare these to those without a gambling problem in the household (n = 13,661). CSOs reported significantly worse long-term wellbeing than non-CSOs in their satisfaction with life, number of life stressors, and social, health and financial wellbeing. However, both
social and financial wellbeing showed a temporal effect, declining significantly for CSOs at
times closer to the exposure to the gambling problem. This finding suggests a causal link
between living in a household with a person with a gambling problem and decreased CSO
social and financial wellbeing. Policy responses, such as additional social and financial sup- port, could be considered to assist CSOs impacted by another person’s gambling problem.