Behavioral Characteristics of Internet Gamblers Who Trigger Corporate Responsible Gambling Interventions

As the worldwide popularity of Internet gambling increases, concerns about the potential for gambling-related harm also increase. This paper reports the results of a study examining actual Internet gambling behavior during 10 years of play. We examined the electronic gambling records of subscribers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology of addictive behaviors 2012-09, Vol.26 (3), p.527-535
Main Authors: Gray, Heather M., LaPlante, Debi A., Shaffer, Howard J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Algorithms
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Cross-Sectional Studies
Discriminant Analysis
Europe
Female
Gamblers
Gambling
Gambling - epidemiology
Gambling - psychology
Gambling - rehabilitation
Gambling Disorder
Human
Humans
Internet
Intervention
Interventions
Male
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Organizational Objectives
Popularity
Proxy - psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social Responsibility
Software
Young Adult
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Summary:As the worldwide popularity of Internet gambling increases, concerns about the potential for gambling-related harm also increase. This paper reports the results of a study examining actual Internet gambling behavior during 10 years of play. We examined the electronic gambling records of subscribers (N = 2,066) who triggered a responsible gaming alert system at a large international online gaming company. We compared these cases with control subscribers (N = 2,066) who had the same amount of exposure to the Internet gambling service provider. We used discriminant function analysis to explore what aspects of gambling behavior distinguish cases from controls. Indices of the intensity of gambling activity (e.g., total number of bets made, number of bets per betting day) best distinguished cases from controls, particularly in the case of live-action sports betting. Control group players evidenced behavior similar to the population of players using this service. These results add to our understanding of behavioral markers for disordered Internet gambling and will aid in the development of behavior-based algorithms capable of predicting the presence and/or the onset of disordered Internet gambling.
ISSN:0893-164X
1939-1501
DOI:10.1037/a0028545