Loot boxes in Spanish adolescents and young adults: Relationship with internet gaming disorder and online gambling disorder

The role of microtransactions in Internet Gaming Disorder and Gambling Disorder: A preregistered systematic review

“…While causality cannot be established in this relationship due to the cross-sectional nature of the existing evidence, future research should further explore the relationships identified in the present study in order to ascertain the need for regulatory actions within the industry. This is a key aspect to be explored, particularly amongst minors since a recent study ( González-Cabrera et al, 2022 ) found that individuals under the age of 18 engaged in loot box purchasing behaviours to the same extent as adults.…”

“…It is evident that there is little consistency among researchers about what tools should be used in the assessment of IGD and microtransaction engagement. A recent study has developed a promising tool to measure microtransaction engagement (the Problematic Use of Loot Boxes Questionnaire; PU-LB; González-Cabrera et al, 2022 ) in a Spanish sample to assess factors that underly loot box purchasing behaviours. This work demonstrated sound psychometric properties and may prove useful in further research to better understand what motivates loot box usage.…”

“Don't Gamble With Children's Rights”—How Behavioral Design Impacts the Right of Children to a Playful and Healthy Game Environment

“…Underlying this is the question of whether loot boxes lead to problem behavior similar to that seen in gambling, and are a reason to strictly regulate gambling and prohibit it for children. There are indeed indications that loot boxes cause problem gambling in adolescents and game companies can actually profit from adolescents with gambling problems ( 42 , 43 ) and even if conclusive evidence is missing the precautionary principle may still demand regulatory intervention to at least protect children when there is potential harm ( 41 , 44 , 45 ).…”

Reserve your judgment on “Draconian” Chinese video gaming restrictions on children • Commentary on: Draconian policy measures are unlikely to prevent disordered gaming (Colder Carras et al., 2021)

“…The aim of the PRC's videogame spending limit-setting (and, by implication, loot box limit-setting) policies of reducing monetary spending seems to have finally started 'working,' or at least worked substantially better, amongst more average-spending players, after the stricter restrictions on videogaming time were imposed in September 2021. Young people in Western countries have been identified as being potentially particularly vulnerable to loot box-related harms (González-Cabrera et al, 2021;Wardle & Zendle, 2021;Zendle et al, 2019), and PRC young people are particularly more frequently exposed to such mechanics (Xiao, Henderson, Yang, et al, 2021). Better consumer protection in relation to loot boxes is now provided to PRC young people: many of them are spending less money.…”