Gambling-like video game practices: A cross-sectional study of links with problem gambling and disordered gaming

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.

Author(s):  
P. Shirley ◽  
Balaji Arumugam ◽  
E. Suganya ◽  
M. Gowthamraj

Background: Nowadays the teens playing outdoor games are difficult to be seen and of course, they play all these games not in reality but in a screen using video games. The biggest revolution in electronic world has put our teens more addicted towards video games which not only affect their academic performance but also have impact on their behaviour and health. The objectives of the study were to assess the pattern of video game usage among the study population; to determine the influence of video game in behaviour of the study population.Methods: The study was conducted as a cross sectional study during January and February 2018, among medical students of tertiary care hospital, Chennai. The data was collected using preformed pretested questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.Results: Out of 211 study participants, majority 168 (80%) were males. Around, 97 (45.9%) participants, liked to play during night hours and most 114 (54.1%) of them preferred adventure and racing games. The change in behavioral patterns like, skipping sleep 20 (25.3%), using bad words 22 (27.8%), betting 40 (50.6%), risky stunts 38 (48.1%) were observed. Around half of the participants 97 (46%) were giving complaints of various health problems like finger pain, 72 (34.1%) wrist pain, 63 (29.8%) neck pain, and 54 (26%) eye pain due to usage of video games.Conclusions: The behavioral patterns explored in this study are alarming which suggest that this age group has to be sensitized on the self control to use the video games. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Manirakiza ◽  
Christian Malaka ◽  
Brice Martial Yambiyo ◽  
Saint Calver Henri Diemer ◽  
Jean de Dieu Longo ◽  
...  

Background: Large-scale population-based seroprevalence studies of SARS-CoV-2 are essential to characterize the cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to extrapolate the prevalence of presumptive immunity at the population level. Objective: The objective of our survey was to estimate the cumulative population immunity for COVID-19 and to identify individual characteristics associated with a positive serostatus. Method: This was a clustered cross-sectional study conducted from July 12 to August 20, 2021, in households in the city of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. Information regarding demographic characteristics (age, gender, and place of residence), comorbidities (chronic diseases) was collected. A venous blood sample was obtained for each participant to determine the level of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using a WANTAI SARS-CoV-2 Ab ELISA kit. Results: All up, 799 participants were surveyed. The average age was 27 years, and 45.8% of the respondents were male (sex ratio: 0.8). The overall proportion of respondents with a positive serostatus was 74.1%. Participants over 20 years of age were twice as likely to have a positive serostatus, with an OR of 2.2 (95% CI: [1.6, 3.1]). Interpretation: The results of this survey revealed a high cumulative level of immunity in Bangui, thus indicating a significant degree of spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the population. The public health implications of this high level of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, particularly on its variants burden, remain to be determined.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery Biegun ◽  
Jason D Edgerton ◽  
Matthew T Keough

Recently there has been growing interest in identifying links between video game playing and problem gambling. As video games continue to take on more gambling-like elements such as loot boxes, there is rising concern that they represent a potential pathway towards problem gambling. In this study, we explored video gamer profiles in a sample of Canadian undergraduate university students (n = 687) to examine whether subgroups of gamers had different risk profiles for problem video gaming and/or problem gambling. Three predominant subgroups emerged: universal, free-to-play, and general gamer classes. Whereas the free-to-play class was associated with higher average amounts of time spent playing video games, the universal class was associated with higher average scores on measures of problem video gaming, problem gambling, and impulsivity. Although motivational differences were evident, there were no significant mental health differences among subgroups in this sample.RésuméOn s’intéresse de plus en plus depuis peu de temps à l’établissement de liens entre la pratique des jeux vidéo et le jeu compulsif. À mesure que les jeux vidéo comportent davantage d’éléments de jeux de hasard comme des coffres à butin, on s’inquiète davantage du fait qu’ils puissent mener au jeu compulsif. Cette étude a examiné le profil de joueurs de jeux vidéo parmi un échantillon d’étudiants canadiens de premier cycle (n = 687) afin de déterminer si les sous-groupes de joueurs présentaient un profil de risque différent pour le jeu vidéo compulsif et/ou le jeu compulsif. Trois sous-groupes prédominants sont ressortis : universel, gratuit et général. Le groupe des jeux gratuits était associé à une plus grande quantité de temps consacrée à jouer à des jeux vidéo, le groupe universel était associé pour sa part à un pointage moyen plus élevé au titre des paramètres de mesure du jeu vidéo compulsif, du jeu compulsif et de l’impulsivité. Les différences de motivation étaient évidentes, mais les sous-groupes de cet échantillon ne présentaient aucune différence importante sur le plan de la santé mentale.


QJM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Abd El-Meguid Hammed ◽  
Hanan Hany Elrassas ◽  
Amenah Soliman

Abstract Background To assess psychiatric comorbidities with video games addiction among medical students of faculty of medicine, Ain Shams university. Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. which examined the relationship between videogaming addiction scale subcategories and psychiatric co-morbidities in the studied subjects. The studied subjects were assessed by Fahmy & Sherbini sociodemographic scale, lemmens scale and ICD-10. Results The results showed that the subjects who were having mania were 2 subjects (6.7%), 4 subjects suffering from depression (13.3%), 5 subjects suffering from cyclothymia (16.7%), 19 subjects were free from psychiatric co-morbidities (63.3%) Conclusions video gaming addicts have psychiatric comorbidities that warrants awareness of clinicians and families.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Shawn Green ◽  
Aaron R. Seitz

Video game play has become a pervasive part of American culture. The dramatic increase in the popularity of video games has resulted in significant interest in the effects that video gaming may have on the brain and behavior. The scientific research to date indicates that some, but not all, commercial video games do indeed have the potential to cause large-scale changes in a wide variety of aspects of human behavior, including the focus of this review—cognitive abilities. More recent years have seen the rise of a separate form of video games, the so-called “brain games,” or games designed with the explicit goal of enhancing cognitive abilities. Although research on such brain games is still in its infancy, and the results have definitely not been uniformly positive, there is nonetheless reason for continued optimism that custom games can be developed that make a lasting and positive impact on human cognitive skills. Here, we discuss the current state of the scientific literature surrounding video games and human cognition with an emphasis on points critically related to public policy.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle ◽  
Paul Cairns

Loot boxes are items in video games that can be paid for with real-world money and contain randomised contents. In recent years, loot boxes have become increasingly common. There is concern in the research community that similarities between loot boxes and gambling may lead to increases in problem gambling amongst gamers. A large-scale survey of gamers (n=7,422) found evidence for a link (η2 = 0.069) between the amount that gamers spent on loot boxes and the severity of their problem gambling. There were strong differences in the amount spent by problem gamblers and non-problem gamblers (η2 = 0.377). It is unclear from this study whether buying loot boxes acts as a gateway to problem gambling, or whether spending large amounts of money on loot boxes appeals more to problem gamblers. However, in either case these results suggest that there is good reason to regulate loot boxes in games.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Nogueira ◽  
Hugo Faria ◽  
Ana Vitorino ◽  
Filipe Glória Silva ◽  
Ana Serrão Neto

Introduction: The excessive use of video games is an emerging problem that has been studied in the context of addictive behaviors. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of use of addictive video games in a group of children and to identify risk factors, protective factors and potential consequences of these behaviors.Material and Methods: Observational and cross-sectional study of children from the sixth grade using an anonymous questionnaire. Addictive video game use was defined by the presence of 5 out of 9 behavioral items adapted from the DSM-5 criteria for ‘Pathological gambling’. Children who answered ‘yes’ to 4 items were included in the “Risk group for addictive video game use”. We delivered 192 questionnaires and 152 were received and included in the study (79.2% response rate). SPSS statistical software was used.Results: Half of the participants were male and the median age was 11 years old. Use of addictive video games was present in 3.9% of children and 33% fulfilled the risk group criteria. Most children played alone. We found additional factors associated with being in the risk group: greater time of use; online, action and fighting games (p < 0.001). Children with risk behaviors showed a shorter sleep duration (p < 0.001).Discussion: A significant number of children of our sample met criteria for addictive video games use in an early age and a greater number may be at risk (33%). This is a problem that warrants further research and clinical attention.Conclusion: This exploratory study helps to understand that addiction to video games in children is an emergent problem.


Medicina ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Maria Rosaria Esposito ◽  
Nicola Serra ◽  
Assunta Guillari ◽  
Silvio Simeone ◽  
Franca Sarracino ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Game addiction is an emerging problem in public health. A gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior. The behavioral pattern is severe enough to implicate a significant involvement of family, social, educational, professional, or other relationships. Therefore, greater attention needs to be paid to potential addictive behaviors in terms of video games in order to identify both pre-adolescents and adolescents at risk and to provide them with adequate assistance. Materials and Methods: A random sample of 622 students including pre-adolescents and adolescents were enrolled from September 1st to October 31th 2016, and the Game Addiction Scale (GAS) interview was used to identify pathological students with both Monothetic and Polythetic analysis. Results: This study shows the presence of pathological students is equal to 1.93%, with 37.46% and 4.50% obtained with Monothetic and Polythetic analysis (global and partial), respectively. In our sample, the most frequent were students with a gaming time of 1 or 2 h, and students with a day gaming frequency of 1, 2, or 3 times a day. The items with more pathological students were Item 2 (i.e., Tolerance) and 4 (i.e., Withdrawal). Every item was positively correlated with Daily gaming time (hours) and Daily game frequency, excluding Item 4 (i.e., Withdrawal). Finally, the Monothetic GAS score was positively correlated with Daily gaming time while the Polythetic Global GAS was positively correlated with Daily game frequency and negatively with Education level; instead, the Polythetic Partial GAS score was positively correlated with only Daily gaming time. Conclusion: Males are pathological gamblers more so than females and spend more time playing video games. An increase in Daily game frequency or Daily gaming time implicates an increase in video game addictions, while an increase in Education level, which generally corresponds to a greater age, implicates a decrease in game addiction. Finally, we observed that the correlations obtained between the Polythetic Partial GAS score with the independent variables such as Age, Gender, Education level, Daily gaming time (hours), and Daily game frequency were analogous to the significant correlations obtained with the Monothetic GAS score, while these correlations were different for the Polythetic Global GAS and the independent variables. These results suggest that the use of the original Polythetic scale should not be neglected.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilie Schou Andreassen ◽  
Joël Billieux ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths ◽  
Daria J. Kuss ◽  
Zsolt Demetrovics ◽  
...  

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