Study: problem gaming ten times more common online
Problem gambling is ten times more common among those who gamble online than among those who only gamble offline, according to new research to be presented tomorrow at the British Psychological Society's Social Psychology Conference.
PROBLEM GAMBLING is ten times more common among those who gamble online than among those who only gamble offline, according to new research to be presented tomorrow at the British Psychological Society’s Social Psychology Conference.
The Internet gambling: A secondary analysis of findings from the 2007 British Gambling Prevalence Survey research project led by Dr Mark Griffiths, professor of Gambling Studies at Nottingham Trent University, used data from the most recent British Gambling Prevalence Survey to show that the level of problem gambling among those who had used the internet to gamble – 5% of those surveyed – was ten times higher than among those who did not.
Professor Griffiths said: “This study’s findings suggest that the medium of the internet may be more likely to contribute to problem gambling than gambling in offline environments. It is clear that gaming companies need to acknowledge they will need to provide even better social responsibility infrastructures online than offline to minimise the harm to problem gamblers.”
The study used data from a survey of 9003 adults aged 16 years and over that who had gambled online and/or used a betting exchange in the last 12 months. The research was done in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research and Professor Jim Orford of the University of Birmingham, and was funded by the Gambling Commission.
Griffiths added: “There is also the issue of how internet problem gamblers can be helped. Recent research suggests that online problem gamblers appear to prefer to seek help online, therefore online help, guidance and treatment may be a potential way forward to help those who may feel too stigmatised to seek traditional face-to-face help for their gambling problems.”
Griffiths’ results will be presented in full tomorrow at The British Psychological Society’s Social Psychology Section annual conference, which is taking place at The Edge in Sheffield from today until 17 September.
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