How do online sports gambling disorder patients compare with land-based patients?

Abstract

Background and aimsRecent technological developments have brought about notable changes in the way people gamble. The widespread use of mobile Internet devices and gambling websites has led to a significant leap in the number of people who recreationally gamble. However, for some, gambling can turn into a psychiatric disorder resembling substance addiction. At present, there is a shortage of studies examining differences between adults with gambling disorder (GD) who exclusively make sports bets online, GD patients that are non-sports Internet gamblers, and offline gamblers. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the differences between these three groups, considering sociodemographic, personality, and clinical characteristics.MethodsThe sample consisted of 2,743 treatment-seeking male patients from the Pathological Gambling Unit at a university hospital. All patients met DSM-5 criteria for GD.ResultsWe found that gamblers who exclusively engaged in non-sports Internet gambling activities were younger than offline gamblers and online sports gamblers. Non-sports Internet gamblers were also more likely to have greater levels of debt compared with offline gamblers. In terms of personality characteristics, our sample displayed low levels of self-directedness and cooperativeness and high levels of novelty seeking. In addition, online sports gamblers obtained higher scores in persistence than non-sports Internet gamblers and offline gamblers.Discussion and conclusionAlthough differences if terms of gambling severity were not identified between groups, GD patients who exclusively bet online appear to possess distinct personality characteristics and higher debt levels compared with offline gamblers.

Internet-Based Structural Characteristics of Sports Betting and Problem Gambling Severity: Is There a Relationship?

“…The prevalence rate of pathological gambling was reported to be 18.8%, problem gambling 16.9%, and risk gambling 32.8% (DGOJ 2016). Therefore, although betting online was not a prerequisite for participating in the present study, the sports bettors' behavior reported here resembles that of other online gambler groups, with higher problem gambling rates than other land-based gamblers (Estévez et al 2017).…”

“…Recent research analyzing gambling disorder patients under treatment in a Barcelona area hospital (in Spain) compared online to offline sports bettors. The results suggested that online bettors made greater maximum bets, and incurred financial debts sooner than offline-only bettors, and that the debts tended to be larger (Estévez et al 2017). …”

“…However, from a public health perspective, sports betting as a distinctive gambling type is subject to distinctive risk factors but has been relatively neglected compared to other types of gambling (Wicker and Soebbing 2013), perhaps due to the relatively small proportion of sports bettors openly seeking help in gambling treatment centers (Estévez et al 2017;Jiménez-Murcia et al 2011).…”

Transformation of Sports Betting into a Rapid and Continuous Gambling Activity: a Grounded Theoretical Investigation of Problem Sports Betting in Online Settings

“…It is evident that there is a need to begin development of interventions to assist with moderating and mediating the negative consequences that can arise from excessive and pathological engagement with this form of gambling (Estevez et al 2017;Killick and Griffiths 2018). Although there are several research articles identifying a relationship between developments in the structural and situational characteristics of online sports betting, the research is largely dependent on self-report survey and qualitative data.…”

“…The lack of environmental distractions in online betting in comparison to invenue betting may lead to an increased level of immersion experienced in the activity, which in turn is likely to increase dissociation levels, culminating in less cognitive control when gambling (Hing et al 2018a, b). Furthermore, in relation to the asocial and private nature of online sports betting, there is an increased risk of players not recognising the development or problematic patterns of online sports betting and persisting until a crisis point is reached, in comparison to in-venue gambling (Estevez et al 2017;Gainsbury et al 2013;Petry 2006).…”