Gambling and Video Game Playing Among Youth

Abstract

Gambling and video game playing represent two leisure activities in which adolescents and young adults participate. There are psychological and behavioural parallels between slot machine gambling and video arcade game playing. Because both activities have similar negative effects associated with excessive play (e.g., poor academic performance, moodiness, loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed, interpersonal conflict) there is concern that children and adolescents who are attracted to video games, for both psychological rewards and the challenge, may be at greater risk to gamble. The current research examined the gambling (land-based, online for money, and free online gambling games), video game, and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) playing behaviour in adolescents and young adults to determine shared risk factors and negative consequences for excessive play. These factors include depression, personality characteristics (i.e., impulsivity and extraversion), and outcome expectancies.Results indicate that gamblers, relative to non-gamblers, were more likely to play video games. Video game players were more likely than non-players to gamble offline and report playing free online gambling games. Problem gamblers had higher rates of video game playing than non-gamblers and addicted gamers had higher rates of land-based gambling than nongamers. In addition, MMORPG players, relative to non-players, were more likely to have participated in online gambling activities, gambled offline, and played free online gambling games. There were no significant differences among the three gambling groups for depression, however addicted gamers had significantly higher depression scores than both social and non-

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A Literature Review and Gap Analysis of Emerging Technologies and New Trends in Gambling

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