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A new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, has attempted to link Internet gambling with substance abuse and the findings are staggering. This is Jagajeet Chiba reporting for Gambling911.com.
Led by Sylvia Kairouz of Concordia University, the study followed individuals who gambling offline with those who gamble on the Internet. She examined the sociodemographic profiles, game-play patterns and level of addictive behaviours in adults who gamble online and offline.
"There has been growing concern with the rise in online gambling and how this affects the health of our public," says Kairouz, professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. "The number of gambling sites around the globe have grown from about 15 in 1995 to 2,358 in 2010 and global Internet gambling revenues increased from $3 billion to $24 billion between 2000 and 2010."
A sampling of 8,456 offline-only gamblers and 111 offline/online gamblers took part in the study.
"Our results show that online gamblers reported being involved in more types of gambling and they spent more money and time playing than those gambling offline only," says Kairouz. "The proportion of frequent and problematic drinkers and cannabis users was also much higher among the Internet players."
She concluded: "We cannot determine, therefore, whether gambling on the Internet creates problems in and of itself, or whether those who already have addictive behaviours are more likely to be enticed to gamble on the Internet," says Kairouz. "We need to conduct more research looking at individual charactersitics, environmental conditions, the object of the addiction (poker, for example) and so on to help us understand whether this group is more at risk for gambling-related problems. The hope would be to ultimately find ways to identify who the people at risk are, why they are at risk and then try to develop preventive measures to reduce the possibility of excessive online gambling.”
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
