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Background and aimsMany new digital gambling-like activities such as loot boxes, esports betting, skin betting, and token wagering have recently emerged and grown in popularity. This scoping review aimed to: (a) synthesize the existing empirical research literature on gambling-like activities and their associations with gambling and video gaming behaviors, including problem gambling and video gaming; (b) identify sociodemographic, psychological, and motivational factors associated with engagement in gambling-like activities; and (c) identify research gaps and areas for further research.MethodsA systematic search of Ovid, Embsco, and ProQuest databases and Google Scholar was conducted in May 2021 and last updated in February 2022. The search yielded a total of 2,437 articles. Articles were included in the review if they were empirical studies that contained quantitative or qualitative results regarding the relationship between gambling-like activities and gambling or gaming.ResultsThirty-eight articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Overall, the review results suggest that all forms of gambling-like activities were positively associated with gambling and gaming with small to medium effects. Gambling-like activity participation was also positively associated with mental distress and impulsivity. Gaps identified included a lack of inquiry into skin betting and token wagering, a lack of diversity in the research methods (i.e., mainly cross-sectional surveys), and a paucity of research that includes more ethnically, culturally, and geographically diverse populations.DiscussionLongitudinal studies with more representative samples are needed to examine the causal link between gambling-like activities and gambling and video gaming.

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Few studies have compared gamblers who play in exclusively online (i.e., Internet-based), exclusively offline (i.e., land-based), and mixed-mode contexts. In studies that have compared these groups, mixed-mode gamblers have consistently exhibited the greatest susceptibility to problematic gambling. In order to expand the scope of previous research that has compared gamblers based on their preferred mode of play, and to improve understanding of mixed-mode gamblers’ proneness to problematic gambling, a sample of gamblers who play in exclusively online, exclusively offline, and mixed-mode contexts were compared on indices of gambling involvement, motives, and personality traits. Results indicated that mixed-mode gamblers played a wider range of games, and reported higher problematic gambling severity scores, higher scores on enhancement and social gambling motive scales, and lower and higher honesty-humility and extraversion personality scores, respectively. Associations between gambling motives and personality traits are discussed in relation to the role that these characteristics might play in mixed-mode gamblers’ increased risk of gambling-related harm.

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