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By Stephen Beech
Teenagers who play video games with “gambling-like” elements are more likely to start real betting, warns new research.
Gaming habits can form a gateway to problem gambling – with youngsters exposed to prize wheels and loot boxes more likely to wager with real money a year later, according to the study.
Researchers in Belgium quizzed more than 2,000 young gamers twice, with a year gap in-between.
When the follow-up surveys were conducted, it was shown that those who engage in games with gambling-like elements were more likely to then gamble with real money than those who didn’t.
The researchers say their findings, published in the journal International Gambling Studies, show that teenagers need to be protected from the risk by updated regulations and information campaigns.
Study lead author Dr. Eva Grosemans, from the media psychology lab at Belgian university KU Leuven, said: “Adolescents, parents, and educators could be made aware of the risks associated with gambling-like elements through information campaigns.
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“This study could inform policymakers about the possible adverse effects of several gambling-like elements in and around video games, and points toward the need to protect minors against these effects.
“The results of this study highlight the importance of broadening the scope [of regulations] beyond loot boxes, by including a variety of gambling-like elements, such as social casino games, prize wheels, loot box openings, and gambling videos.”
Hundreds of games across all platforms – from console to mobile phones – feature elements such as virtual social casino games, spinning prize wheels and gambling-themed videos.
Previous research has shown correlations between interacting with gambling-like elements and problematic gambling.
But, until now, little research had examined any link in adolescents.
A total of 2,289 young people in Belgium, aged between 10 and 17, took part in the survey, which asked questions about video gaming, gambling-like elements, and betting. A year later, 2,197 respondents took part in the second phase.
Of the respondents, 561 participated in both phases and comprised the final sample.
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Each phase lasted four months: from November 2021 to February 2022, and then from November 2022 to February 2023.
The key finding was that participants who, in the first phase, engaged in gambling-like elements of video games were statistically more likely than others to engage in actual gambling a year later.
The research team says the “smoking gun” which connects playing with gambling-like elements in phase one with actually gambling in phase two was revealed via “cross-lagged panel model” – a way for the team to study how two things influence each other over time.
The researchers did not find the reverse to be true; those who participated in gambling in the first phase were not more likely to engage in gambling-like behavior in the second phase, a year later.
The team found that the more contact young people had with gambling-like features, the greater the increase in gambling behavior.
A positive attitude towards gambling and a subsequent intention to gamble played an important role in the long-term association, according to the findings.
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The study also showed that more than half of the participants (59.1%) interacted with gambling-like elements in both phases, while just under half (46.9%) gambled with real money in both.
In the first phase, 75% used loot boxes or other gambling-like elements with boys (88.5%) more likely to do so than girls (64.1%).
The second phase showed that 60.3% of participants had engaged in some form of gambling – such as scratch cards, doing the lottery offline or online betting – over the previous year, with little difference between boys and girls.
Scratch cards were the most popular form of gambling, with around 37% of participants having used them.
Study co-author Professor Bart Soenens, from the University of Ghent, said: “Although effects observed in our study may appear modest, they are consistent in magnitude with those found in previous studies using cross-lagged panel analysis.”
Professor Soenens added: “Further analyses based on a reasoned action approach showed that gambling attitude and intention played a significant mediating role in the effects of gambling-like elements on changes in gambling.”