Online Gambling has become one of the fastest growing forms of gambling, drawing in people of all ages and genders. It is also available in a variety of formats, including casino websites, sports betting apps, and even some video games. While the vast majority of players are harmless, some gamblers can develop serious problems that can have a negative impact on their lives.
Some of the side effects of gambling include losing large sums of money, accruing debts, and neglecting other important aspects of life such as work or school. Gambling can also cause emotional stress, and some people may develop health issues due to the stress of losing or not winning money. Gambling can also cause social isolation, as people spend more time playing than with friends or family. In severe cases, gamblers may engage in illegal activities like theft or fraud to fund their gambling habit.
In order to gain knowledge about risk factors and protective factors for online gambling, a literature search was conducted in the academic databases PubMed and PsychInfo using analogous syntaxes that were limited to peer-reviewed articles. Studies on online gambling were included if they fulfilled the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) criteria.
The selected studies showed that there are a number of different risk and protective factors for online gambling. The majority of the studied factors are similar to those associated with offline gambling. However, a few specific aspects seem to be unique to online gambling, such as the higher impulsivity of gamblers and the tendency for them to engage in cognitive distortions when making decisions. Additionally, the presence of other problems in life contexts such as the university context is reported to increase the likelihood that people will use the internet to gamble and to become problematic gamblers.