Online Gambling involves playing games of chance and skill through the internet. These games include sports betting, online casinos, slots, poker, and lottery-style games such as bingo. Gambling can be fun, but it can also lead to serious financial problems and even health-related issues. Many people who play online gambling games are at risk of developing an addiction to the activity. If you suspect that a loved one is struggling with an addiction, it’s important to talk to them about it in a non-judgmental way and help them get the support they need.
Online gambling has grown rapidly in recent decades, and it is now a widespread phenomenon that affects people around the world. This article presents a synthesis of the current state of knowledge about the risk and protective factors associated with this form of gambling among adult populations. To achieve this, a literature search of the PubMed, PsychInfo, and Scopus databases was conducted. The search focused on studies investigating differences in risk and protective factors between online gamblers and offline nonproblematic and problem gamblers. Variables acting at the individual, relational, and contextual levels were analyzed, but only studies examining comparisons between online and offline gamblers and between online nonproblematic and problematic gamblers were selected for this review.
Some risk factors identified in the reviewed literature are related to gender, age, and level of problematic gambling. In general, women are more likely to engage in online gambling than men, and a higher proportion of female online gamblers is found within the most problematic cluster compared to males. Furthermore, older online gamblers are more likely to experience a greater number of gambling-related problems than younger gamblers.