Online Gambling is betting or playing games of chance for money, on a computer, tablet or mobile phone using a secure internet connection. It’s an estimated $9.5 billion per year business and can be a lot of fun. But it can also lead to serious harms including financial stress, relationship breakdown and mental illness. Moreover, gambling harms can have long-term consequences on people’s health and are considered a substance-related disorder in the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual.
Research has shown that a typical problem gambler affects six other people (Rintoul et al., 2021). However, little is known about the risk factors and protective factors for developing online gambling problems in the adult population. This paper aims to explore knowledge and evidence about these issues. To identify relevant literature, a systematic review was conducted in three academic databases (PubMed, PsychInfo and Scopus). Analogous syntaxes were used to search for studies that reported on risk factors or protective factors (PICO) for online gambling. The study was limited to peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2020.
Young people are often introduced to gambling behaviours through features of some video games, such as loot boxes and skin betting. This short film by Myleene Klass discusses how adults can educate children and young people about these behaviours and spot whether they’re showing signs of a problem. In addition, she talks about the importance of limiting the availability and accessibility of online gambling products for young people.