Substitution behaviors among people who gamble during COVID-19 precipitated casino closures

Abstract

Objective. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the closure of licensed casinos throughout North America in Spring 2020. This study sought to examine how gamblers responded to the COVID-19 lockdown, including migration to online gambling, and changes in substance use and use of other technologies. Method. We conducted an online cross-sectional study of US residents. 424 individuals with past three months gambling involvement were surveyed on 9 April 2020. Self-reported changes in online gambling and other addictive behaviors since the onset of COVID-19, problem gambling severity, and readiness to change were measured. Results. Overall, online gambling decreased following the onset of COVID-19 casino closures, t(220)=-2.87, p=0.003, 95%CI [-0.546, -0.101], d=0.193, while alcohol, p<0.001, tobacco, p=0.001, and cannabis use, p=0.01, increased among gamblers. Among gamblers who reported no online gambling involvement prior to COVID-19, 15% reported migrating to online gambling under lockdown. These migrators had higher levels of problem gambling, F=37.7, p<0.001, 𝜂2=0.152, and lower income, F=5.50, p=0.004, 𝜂2=0.025, than gamblers who had never gambled online. Conclusions. The response to COVID-19 is heterogeneous: in the short-term, the majority of gamblers reported reducing their online gambling, but increasing their substance use. A minority of gamblers appear to have substituted casino gambling with online gambling. As these individuals are characterized by problem gambling symptoms and lower income, they may be considered a vulnerable group.

The impact of COVID-19 on gambling and gambling disorder: emerging data

“…A greater number of studies estimated the increase in online gambling specifically [ 24 , 28 , 31 ▪ , 35 , 36 ▪ , 37 , 39 , 41 ]. The lowest estimate was provided by one of the few longitudinal studies, the YouGov weighted panel in Great Britain [ 31 ▪ ] that showed an increase in online gambling from 1.5% in October 2019 to 2.3% in May 2020.…”

“…Numerous studies examined the characteristics of the subgroup of people whose gambling increased during the pandemic. The most frequently identified correlate was problem gambling severity index score and four studies found an association with increased problem severity and increased gambling [ 31 ▪ , 33 – 35 , 41 ]. A single study found that moderate risk but not problem gambling status was associated with increased gambling [ 30 ].…”

“…Men were found to be at increased risk in three studies [ 26 , 31 ▪ , 35 ], and women in another [ 29 ▪ ]. Full-time employment [ 28 , 29 ▪ ] and higher income [ 41 ] also facilitated increased gambling. In contrast, anxiety [ 29 ▪ ], depression [ 29 ▪ ], alcohol consumption [ 33 ], drug addiction [ 27 ] were each significant in one sample.…”

Transitioning Between Online Gambling Modalities and Decrease in Total Gambling Activity, but No Indication of Increase in Problematic Online Gambling Intensity During the First Phase of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Sweden: A Time Series Forecast Study

“…At time of writing, four studies have examined the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on gambling: three cross-sectional survey studies (10,19,20) and one using aggregated time series from a multinational gambling provider (21). Two deserve special mention in the context of the current study.…”

The Influence of Lockdown on the Gambling Pattern of Swiss Casinos Players

“…Stay-athome mandates and quarantines increase the consumption of digital forms of entertainment, especially online games and related activities (e.g., following sports broadcasts and video game streaming) [5,6]. Another plausible reason why more people have been gambling online could be that players who previously participated in land-based gambling migrated to online gambling during the casino closures [7,8]. Last but not least, there has been heavy promotion of a plethora of other gambling products including online casino games, online slot machines and virtual sports [9].…”