IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i11p4013-d367549.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changes in Gambling Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Web Survey Study in Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Anders Håkansson

    (Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, S-22100 Lund, Sweden
    Region Skåne, Gambling Disorder Unit, S-20502 Malmö, Sweden)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed everyday life, and policy makers have raised concerns about possible changes in gambling patterns during the pandemic. This study aimed to examine whether self-reported gambling has increased during the pandemic, and to examine potential correlates of such a change. This general population survey study in Sweden collected self-report data from 2016 web survey members (51 percent men, nine percent moderate-risk/problem gamblers). Correlates of increased gambling and increased gambling specifically due to COVID-19-related cancellation of sports were calculated. Four percent reported an overall gambling increase during the pandemic. The proportion of individuals reporting an increase, compared to individuals reporting a decrease, was markedly higher for online casinos (0.62), online horse betting (0.76) and online lotteries (0.73), and lower for sports betting (0.11). Overall, gambling increases were independently associated with gambling problems and increased alcohol consumption. In the sub-group, where there was an increase in specific gambling types in response to cancelled sports betting events, rates of gambling problems were high. In conclusion, only a minority report increased gambling in response to the pandemic, but this group has markedly higher gambling problems and changes in alcohol consumption, and may represent a sub-group with a particularly high vulnerability. This calls for preventive action in people with higher gambling risks in response to the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Anders Håkansson, 2020. "Changes in Gambling Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Web Survey Study in Sweden," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4013-:d:367549
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4013/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4013/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julio Torales & Marcelo O’Higgins & João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia & Antonio Ventriglio, 2020. "The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(4), pages 317-320, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julio Torales & Iván Barrios & Osvaldo Melgarejo & Noelia Ruiz Díaz & Marcelo O’Higgins & Rodrigo Navarro & Diego Amarilla & José Almirón-Santacruz & Israel González-Urbieta & Tomás Caycho-Rod, 2024. "Hope, resilience and subjective happiness among general population of Paraguay in the post COVID-19 pandemic," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 70(3), pages 489-497, May.
    2. Cudjoe, Dan & Wang, Hong & zhu, Bangzhu, 2022. "Thermochemical treatment of daily COVID-19 single-use facemask waste: Power generation potential and environmental impact analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    3. Hui-Wen Tseng & Ching-Shu Tsai & Yu-Min Chen & Ray C. Hsiao & Fan-Hao Chou & Cheng-Fang Yen, 2021. "Poor Mental Health in Caregivers of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Its Relationships with Caregivers’ Difficulties in Managing the Children’s Behaviors and Worsened Psychol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Qin Xiang Ng & Kuan Tsee Chee & Michelle Lee Zhi Qing De Deyn & Zenn Chua, 2020. "Staying connected during the COVID-19 pandemic," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(5), pages 519-520, August.
    5. Becky Leshem & Gabriela Kashy-Rosenbaum & Miriam Schiff & Rami Benbenishty & Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, 2023. "Continuous Exposure to Terrorism during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Model in the Israeli Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Clemens Koestner & Viktoria Eggert & Theresa Dicks & Kristin Kalo & Carolina Zähme & Pavel Dietz & Stephan Letzel & Till Beutel, 2022. "Psychological Burdens among Teachers in Germany during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic—Subgroup Analysis from a Nationwide Cross-Sectional Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Francesco Demaria & Stefano Vicari, 2023. "Adolescent Distress: Is There a Vaccine? Social and Cultural Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-11, January.
    8. Qingyuan Luo & Peng Zhang & Yijia Liu & Xiujie Ma & George Jennings, 2022. "Intervention of Physical Activity for University Students with Anxiety and Depression during the COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control Period: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Ankica Kosic & Tamara Džamonja Ignjatović & Nebojša Petrović, 2021. "A Cross-Cultural Study of Distress during COVID-19 Pandemic: Some Protective and Risk Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-15, July.
    10. Li, Jianbiao & Zhang, Yanan & Niu, Xiaofei, 2021. "The COVID-19 pandemic reduces trust behavior," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    11. Lígia Passos & Filipe Prazeres & Andreia Teixeira & Carlos Martins, 2020. "Impact on Mental Health Due to COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study in Portugal and Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-13, September.
    12. Jian-Bin Li & An Yang & Kai Dou & Rebecca Y. M. Cheung, 2020. "Self-Control Moderates the Association Between Perceived Severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health Problems Among the Chinese Public," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-10, July.
    13. Annamalai Alagappan & Sampath Kumar Venkatachary & Leo John Baptist & Ravi Samikannu & Jagdish Prasad & Anitha Immaculate, 2020. "A Comparative Study on Corona Virus Pandemic – What do figures indicate?," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 161-169.
    14. H Manjula Bai, 2020. "The Socio-Economic Implications of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19): A Review," ComFin Research, Shanlax Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 8-17, October.
    15. Adrija Roy & Arvind Kumar Singh & Shree Mishra & Aravinda Chinnadurai & Arun Mitra & Ojaswini Bakshi, 2021. "Mental health implications of COVID-19 pandemic and its response in India," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(5), pages 587-600, August.
    16. Francesca Gorini & Kyriazoula Chatzianagnostou & Annamaria Mazzone & Elisa Bustaffa & Augusto Esposito & Sergio Berti & Fabrizio Bianchi & Cristina Vassalle, 2020. "“Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Time of COVID-19”: A Review of Biological, Environmental, and Psychosocial Contributors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-17, October.
    17. Amer Habibullah & Nawaf Alhajaj & Ahmad Fallatah, 2022. "One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Ryan, Sophia C. & Sugg, Margaret M. & Runkle, Jennifer D. & Wertis, Luke & Singh, Devyani & Green, Shannon, 2024. "Short-term changes in mental health help-seeking behaviors following exposure to multiple social stressors and a natural disaster," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    19. Marla Andréia Garcia de Avila & Pedro Tadao Hamamoto Filho & Francine Letícia da Silva Jacob & Léia Regina Souza Alcantara & Malin Berghammer & Margaretha Jenholt Nolbris & Patricia Olaya-Contreras & , 2020. "Children’s Anxiety and Factors Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study Using the Children’s Anxiety Questionnaire and the Numerical Rating Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-13, August.
    20. Maria Didriksen & Thomas Werge & Janna Nissen & Michael Schwinn & Erik Sørensen & Kaspar R. Nielsen & Mie T. Bruun & Karina Banasik & Thomas F. Hansen & Christian Erikstrup & Sisse R. Ostrowski & Poul, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Sleep Quality, Stress Level and Health-Related Quality of Life—A Large Prospective Cohort Study on Adult Danes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-14, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4013-:d:367549. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.