Online Gambling is an activity where you wager real money on games of chance via the internet. It can be a fun and exciting hobby, but it can also become an addictive habit that causes problems for you and others around you. It can cause financial difficulties, stress, and even legal problems. Identifying a gambling problem is the first step to getting help and changing your behavior.
In recent decades, the number of people who gamble on the internet has increased significantly. Its intrinsic characteristics (accessibility, anonymity, variety of games) make it particularly attractive to users. However, it is important to note that the majority of gamblers are not problematic and that many studies have compared online vs offline gamblers without distinguishing between nonproblematic and problematic gamblers.
The goal of this article is to present the current state of knowledge about risk and protective factors associated with online gambling among adult populations. To do so, a systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, PsychInfo, and Scopus. The search was limited to articles published between 2010 and 2020. The research was carried out using the PICO model and focused on risk and protective factors at all levels of analysis (individual, relational, contextual).
If you know someone who is addicted to gambling, it’s important to be supportive and encourage them to get help. But remember, it’s their choice whether to recover from this addiction or not. If they decide to continue gambling, it’s essential to set limits on how much they spend. You can also ask them to sign up for a self-exclusion period on their gambling website to prevent them from accessing it for a certain amount of time.
