The relationship between problem gambling, excessive gaming, psychological distress and spending on loot boxes in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and the United States-A cross-national survey

Autor: Christopher J. Ferguson, James D. Sauer, Lauren C. Hall, Aaron Drummond
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Male
Social psychology (sociology)
Gambling Addiction
Computer Games
Emotions
Social Sciences
Geographical locations
Surveys and Questionnaires
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychology
Computer Networks
media_common
education.field_of_study
Multidisciplinary
Cross national survey
Advertising
Middle Aged
Aotearoa
Medicine
Female
Games
Research Article
Adult
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Computer and Information Sciences
media_common.quotation_subject
Science
Population
Oceania
Addiction
Sample (statistics)
Context (language use)
Young Adult
Mental Health and Psychiatry
Humans
education
Behavior
Internet
Australia
Administrative Personnel
Biology and Life Sciences
Cross-cultural studies
United States
Behavior
Addictive
Cross-Sectional Studies
Video Games
Service (economics)
Gambling
Recreation
People and places
New Zealand
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 3, p e0230378 (2020)
PLoS ONE
ISSN: 1932-6203
Popis: Loot boxes are digital containers of randomised rewards available in many video games. Due to similarities between some loot boxes and traditional forms of gambling, concerns regarding the relationship between spending on loot boxes in video games and symptoms of problematic gambling have been expressed by policy makers and the general public. We present the first investigation of these concerns in large cross-sectional cross-national samples from three countries (Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and the United States). A sample of 1,049 participants were recruited through Qualtrics' Survey Targeting service from a broad cross-section of the population in Australia (n = 339), Aotearoa New Zealand (n = 323), and the United States (n = 387). Participants answered a survey assessing problem gambling, problem gaming symptomology, and how much they spent on loot boxes per month. On average, individuals with problem gambling issues spent approximately $13 USD per month more on loot boxes than those with no such symptoms. Loot box spending was also associated with both positive and negative moods, albeit with small effect sizes. Analyses showed both interactions and correlations between problematic gambling and problematic gaming symptoms, indicating both some commonality in the mechanisms underlying, and independent contributions made by, these proposed diagnostic criteria. These results provide context for dialogues regarding how best to reduce the impacts of loot box spending among those with problematic gambling symptoms.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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