Perceived Gambling Availability and Adolescent Gambling Behavior: the Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy

Geographic accessibility has been linked to gambling behavior, but little is known about whether the perception of gambling availability in both offline and online venues is prospectively associated with adolescent gambling behavior. Further, relatively few studies have analyzed the interaction between environmental and individual factors in explaining adolescent gambling and problem gambling. This prospective study examined the association between perceived gambling availability, gambling frequency, and problem gambling among 554 adolescents aged 13–17 years (mean = 15.1, female 47.4%) and explored the moderating role of self-efficacy to control gambling in these associations. Participants completed assessments of perceived gambling availability and gambling self-efficacy at baseline. Gambling frequency and problem gambling were measured at follow-up. Two separate hierarchical regression models were applied to analyze the relationship of perceived gambling availability with gambling behavior and the moderating role of gambling self-efficacy. Results showed that a greater perception of gambling availability was associated with a higher gambling frequency and more problem gambling in adolescents. The impact of perceived gambling availability on gambling frequency and problem gambling was lower among participants with moderate gambling self-efficacy in comparison with participants with low gambling self-efficacy. In those adolescents with high self-efficacy to control gambling, perceived gambling availability was not associated either with gambling frequency or problem gambling. These results suggest the usefulness of implementing regulatory policies aimed at reducing gambling availability in adolescents, and the design of preventative interventions aimed at enhancing self-efficacy to control gambling.

The Relationship of Consumer Attitude and Government Regulations Towards Online Gambling Behavior in The Philippines

The Philippine gambling industry, and particularly online gaming, has recently emerged as a major driver of the country’s economy. The rise of this controversial industry has become a cause of concern for many Filipino citizens. For the past two decades, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has been a major driver of the Philippine economy. However, a new sector of the economy has emerged that appears poised to take over traditional BPOs: online gambling. With the emergence of online gambling, any citizen can simply log into a website and they can play the usual casino games like poker, roulette, and slot machines or even sports betting. Online gambling is just like having a wallet in your pocket right now and just waiting for the money to come in, you just pull out your cellphone and you gamble already right away, that easy. Technically, engaging in online gambling is legal unless operated by a Philippine-licensed offshore company. Unlike other countries, the Philippines does not have strict mandates against gambling. The research aims to cover if consumer attitude and government regulations are significantly proportion with the effect of online gambling behavior. Adding to that, the researcher has added an intervening variable which is promotional ads if it has a direct impact adopting online gambling behavior. By using a quantitative analysis, the study recorded 100 respondents residing in the Philippines and studying their opinion towards this new addictive behavior relating to money. The materials and resources collected have concluded that consumer attitude and government regulations have significant impact towards this unlikely behavior, while promotional ads remain irrelevant.

Gambling in Spanish Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Mental Health Indicators

Concern about the development of behavioral addictions in adolescence, including gambling, has increased in recent years. Evidence shows that problem gambling can lead to personal, social, or health problems. However, even though gambling is an illegal activity, studies on this problem are quite limited in Spain. The main objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of gambling in adolescents in Spain. Moreover, gambling behaviors were examined according to gender and age, and their possible relationship with several mental health indicators was analyzed. The results showed that 20.6% of the adolescents who participated in the study had gambled money in the past year. The highest gambling prevalence was found in boys and in adolescents from the age of 16 years old. Moreover, the results showed that gambling behavior was related to different mental health indicators.

Asymmetrical Attention to Gambling-related Stimuli and Pupillary Dilation in Response to Wins and Losses in Problem Gamblers

Gambling disorder and problem gambling are characterized by persistent and repetitive problematic gambling behavior. Attentional bias toward gambling-related stimuli such as casino chips, dice, roulette, etc. have been observed in problem gamblers (PGs), but it remains unclear whether stimuli in gambling tasks elicit greater attention and pupillary responses in PGs. To address this issue, we administrated PGs and non-problem gamblers (NPGs) a gambling task accompanied by eye-tracking measurements, in which the participants were required to choose one of the paired pictures to receive monetary rewards and avoid punishments. Concerning attentional allocation, PG showed a greater attentional preference for the right-hand pictures in the decision and feedback phases, and compared to NPGs, PGs’ attention was narrower and more focused on the left-hand pictures in the decision phase. Concerning pupillary dynamics indicative of noradrenergic locus coeruleus activity, pupillary dilation in response to rewards and punishments was observed only in PGs. Studies of unilateral spatial neglect have proposed that asymmetric attention is induced by hemispheric imbalance. Accordingly, asymmetrical allocation of attention by PGs may reflect hemispheric imbalance, and pupillary dynamics may reflect sensitivity to wins and losses.

Impact of Advertising Campaigns Among Online Gamblers: The Role Perceptions of Social Support and Personality Traits

Background: Few studies on problematic gamblers have focused on how environment and personality interact in gambling behavior. The aim of this research is to investigate how social support, dimensions of personality, and advertising campaigns are associated with gambling among problematic or moderate-risk gamblers and recreational gamblers and associated with online gambling (i.e., sport and poker).Methods: One hundred nine participants (45% problematic or moderate-risk gamblers) answered an online survey including social support, five factor models of personality, typology of gamblers, and several sociodemographic variables.Results: We found that problematic and moderate-risk gamblers were significantly more sensitive to gambling advertisements compared to light players. Social support was significantly lower among online gamblers compared to offline gamblers, but no association was found between social support and type of gamblers. Problematic and moderate-risk gamblers presented lower levels of extraversion compared with recreational gamblers. Notably, when the onset of gambling is before 18 years old, participants had more chances to recall more gambling advertisements as adults.Conclusion: We propose that future longitudinal research should focus on characteristics of online gamers particularly regarding social support to understand this low level of adequacy compared to offline gamblers.

A Longitudinal Study of Gambling Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sweden

This study aimed to investigate changes in gambling behaviors during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Participants who had gambled within the past year were recruited from social media and the Swedish National Helpline (n = 325, mean age 39.8 years, 64.8% males, 31.3% with problem gambling) and completed an online survey measuring gambling behaviors, consequences of the pandemic in general and worries related to the pandemic. A sub-sample (n = 139) completed a follow-up survey, during the second wave. The results showed no significant associations between COVID-19 consequences (financial or increased isolation) and increased monthly gambling behavior. No major migrations were observed between game types. However, gambling on a high-risk game (OR = 7.44, p < 0.001) and worrying about mental health due to the pandemic (OR = 2.85, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with past year gambling problems and increased monthly gambling problems from the first to the second wave. More longitudinal research is needed in vulnerable populations, to fully understand the long-term consequences of the pandemic.

The Effect of Mandatory Play Breaks on Subsequent Gambling Behavior Among Norwegian Online Sports Betting, Slots and Bingo Players: A Large-scale Real World Study

In order to protect gamblers, gambling operators have introduced a wide range of responsible gambling (RG) tools. Mandatory play breaks (i.e., forced termination of a gambling session) and personalized feedback about the gambling expenditure are two RG tools that are frequently used. While the motivation behind mandatory play breaks is simple (i.e., gambling operators expect gamblers to reduce their gambling significantly as a result of an enforced break in play), empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of the mandatory breaks is still limited. The present study comprised a real-world experiment with the clientele of Norwegian gambling operator Norsk Tipping. On the Norsk Tipping gambling website, which offers slots, bingo and sports-betting, forced termination occurs if gamblers have played continuously for a one-hour period. The study tested the effect of different lengths of mandatory play breaks (90 s, 5 min, 15 min) on subsequent gambling behavior, as well as the effect of combined personalized feedback concerning money wagered, won, and net win/loss. In total 21,129 online players (61% male; mean age = 47.4 years) experienced at least one play break between April 17 and May 21 (2020) with 156,989 mandatory play breaks in total. Results indicated that a 15-min mandatory play break led to a disproportionately longer voluntary play pause compared to 5-min and 90-s mandatory play breaks. Personalized feedback appeared to have no additional effect on subsequent gambling and none of the mandatory play breaks appeared to affect the increase or decrease in money wagered once players started to gamble again.