Online Gambling involves betting on games of chance and skill for money, using a computer, tablet or mobile phone with internet access. This activity is generally legal in most countries and is regulated by the gambling laws of individual jurisdictions.
Despite the relative ease and anonymity of online gambling, it can lead to serious problems for those with addictions. These include financial difficulties, family and social issues, psychological distress and health problems. In addition, gambling may interfere with work or academic performance. Problem gamblers may also turn to illegal activities in order to fund their habit, leading to legal trouble.
The present article investigates the current state of knowledge about the risk and protective factors associated with online gambling. A literature search in the PubMed, PsychInfo and Scopus databases was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles that met the inclusion criteria. A total of 42 papers were included in the present study. All of the included studies were cross-sectional, and the results concerning risk and protective factors were analysed at the individual, relational and contextual levels. The majority of the articles investigated the relationship between online gambling and a variety of psychosocial outcomes, including psychological distress, problem gambling, expenditures, chasing losses, and addiction severity (nonproblematic, problematic and pathological).
The majority of studies reported similar results with regards to gender, age, and the number of gambling accounts. However, some articles drew attention to the fact that women are at greater risk of developing a pathological mode of gambling. In addition, Gainsbury et al. (2014) found that a higher level of psychological distress was observed in the more problematic group than in the non-problematic one.
