Online Gambling has become a popular and profitable industry for a number of companies. However, it can be a source of problem gambling for many people. To help prevent this from happening, there are a few things you should know about Online Gambling.
The purpose of this article is to synthesize and systematize the current knowledge regarding the risk and protective factors that characterize online gambling in the adult population. To achieve this, two comparative analyses were performed: 1) comparison of the characteristics that distinguish offline gamblers from online ones; and 2) comparison between online nonproblematic gamblers and online problematic gamblers.
Several critical issues emerge from the analysis carried out. First, most of the papers used nonrepresentative samples. In addition, most of the studies are cross-sectional, while longitudinal research is needed to achieve a better understanding of the relationships between variables.
The most common factor that is characterized by online gamblers is high impulsivity. This trait is also related to the occurrence of cognitive distortions in gambling, such as the illusion of control. It is also associated with a higher level of dysfunctional personality and greater reliance on credit cards to gamble. Other risk factors include solitary gambling, lack of participation in virtual chat rooms or forums, and tilt episodes. In addition, the onset of gambling behaviour is reported to be earlier for online gamblers than for their offline counterparts. However, these findings need to be confirmed by future investigations.