Gambling is an activity in which participants place bets or wagers, usually with money. It can be a fun way to pass the time, but it’s important to understand how it works and what the odds are before you start gambling.
The current state of knowledge about Online Gambling is reviewed, and risk factors and protective factors are identified. An online search was conducted in PsychInfo and PubMed for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2020 using the syntax (ab(online, internet) AND ab(gambling) OR ab(risk factor, predictive, protect, correlate)).
A few studies have reported that there are differences between the characteristics of online gamblers and offline gamblers. For example, Gainsbury et al. (2014b) found that online gamblers are more likely to experience psychological distress than land-based gamblers. Also, Edgren et al. (2017) showed that women are more likely to be in the problematic cluster of online gambling than men. The relationship between gender and problem gambling is an area that requires further study.
Online gambling can cause harm by increasing a person’s financial problems, emotional stress, depression, or social isolation. It can also lead to legal issues and declines in work or school performance. The most effective measures for reducing gambling-related harm include universal pre-commitment (requiring people to set binding limits on how much they spend and how long they can gamble) and self-exclusion systems. In addition, prevention should focus on limiting access to online gambling websites and services and providing education on the nature of online gambling and its risks.