Online Gambling in Adults – Risk Factors and Protective Factors

Online Gambling is gambling through the internet on websites that offer different types of betting activities. This form of gambling is becoming increasingly popular and many countries have legalized it. However, there are still many risks and dangers to online gambling, such as losing large sums of money, accruing debts and suffering from depression or anxiety. It is therefore important to find healthy alternatives to online gambling, such as pursuing hobbies and interests or spending time with family and friends.

The purpose of this article is to investigate and synthesize knowledge about risk and protective factors in relation to online gambling in adults. To achieve this goal, a systematic literature search was conducted using the PubMed and PsychInfo databases with analogous syntaxes limited to peer-reviewed articles. The search was restricted to studies published between 2010 and 2020.

The majority of the selected studies report evidence of risk factors and protective factors in connection with online gambling. The most prominent risk factors are lack of supervision and self-control, which are accompanied by negative consequences such as relationship breakdown, financial distress, family violence and mental health problems. The effect of these factors is accentuated by the ease of access to online gambling platforms, which are often not regulated by national law. In addition, life contexts and personal circumstances, especially academic issues in a university setting, are reported to increase the likelihood of gambling and of becoming a problem gambler. Scarce attention is paid to variables acting at the contextual level.