Online gambling is an increasingly popular activity, allowing individuals to place bets and win real money from the comfort of their homes or workplaces. While online gambling can be a lot of fun and provides many benefits to participants, it is important that individuals know the risks involved in order to prevent problems from occurring. It is recommended that people play only with money that they are willing to lose and avoid using loans or credit cards when gambling. Moreover, they should always acquaint themselves with the laws of their region regarding gambling so that they do not run into any legal issues in future.
In addition to monetary losses and debt accumulation, the onset of online gambling can lead to serious harms to health. These can include financial stress, relationship breakdown, family violence and mental illness. The legacy of these harms can last throughout one’s life and even extend to other generations. Therefore, there is a need for population-wide interventions to prevent gambling harm.
To understand the current state of knowledge about risk and protective factors for online gambling, we conducted a systematic literature review of articles published between 2010 and 2020 in three different academic databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, and Scopus). The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles. The results showed that the majority of studies focused on individual and relational factors, while variables acting at a contextual level were scarcely investigated. The only exception was the study by Lelonek-Kuleta et al., which found that a university context was associated with internet gambling.