Online Gambling is a growing local industry that offers many benefits to the economy. While federal regulations influence financial transactions, they do not prohibit individual states from regulating online gambling platforms or allowing them to operate within their borders. However, it is important to understand the risks and dangers associated with this type of gambling. If you are concerned that your online gambling habits may be problematic, you can take GamCare’s free and anonymous self-assessment here.
We analyzed the literature on risk and protective factors of online gambling in adults. To search for peer-reviewed articles, we used a combination of three different academic databases. In PubMed and PsychInfo, we entered the following syntax: (ab(online gambling) OR ab(internet gambling) OR ab(gambling) AND (risk factors, protective factors, predictors, correlates). Among the articles we retrieved, the majority focused on online casino gambling and included both adult gamblers and those with a history of problem gambling. The results show that online gambling is more addictive than offline gambling. There is also a high level of homogeneity among studies that compare online and offline gambling in terms of risk, intensity, winnings, and frequency. Interestingly, some of the same predictors are observed in both settings, and it appears that a lower income is more likely to be associated with online gambling than offline gambling. This might be related to the greater convenience of playing from home rather than traveling to a gambling establishment. However, this is not a universally true finding.