Study Suggests iGaming Not as Addictive as Gambling

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Friday, November 25th, 2016 | Written by Shane Larson

One of the biggest arguments against online gambling regulation is that it will result in a rise in the overall level of gambling addiction. According to the opponents of iGaming, if people are able to legally play any time that they want from the comfort of their own homes or mobile devices, then they are more likely to spend recklessly and potentially become addicted to gambling. While on the surface this argument could be seen as logical, the findings of a recent study indicates that it may not actually be a legitimate concern.

The study in question was conducted by the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute, with its lead author, Dr. Andrew Przybylski, then explaining:

“Contrary to what was predicted, the study did not find a clear link between potential addiction and negative effects on health.. Importantly, the great majority of gamers — nearly three in four — reported no symptoms at all that we would link with addictive gaming behavior.”

Oxford University Study

The study conducted by the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute marks the first time that a respected post-secondary educational institution has attempted to determine what the rate of addiction is among people who play Internet games.

For the study, the researchers at Oxford surveyed 19,000 men and women from Germany, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. More than half of the respondents subsequently indicated that they had played Internet games in recent months, but only 2 to 3 percent of them exhibited five or more of nine symptoms associated with gambling addiction, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association (AGA).

The list include an obsessive interest with online gaming, social withdrawal, anxiety, a reduced level of interest in other activities, as well as feeling of losing control. Another important symptom involves the suffering of withdrawal symptoms when not gaming, but according to the Oxford study only 0.5 to 1 percent of the interviewees said that they had experienced severe distress when they were not able to play.

Rate of iGaming Addiction Low

This rather large study shows that incidences of gambling addiction among those who play online are rather low. Overall, the group concluded that 1 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 and 0.5 percent of people aged 18 and over are likely to be addicted to online gambling. That’s about half of what the overall rate of general gambling addiction is among people in both categories.

While this seems to be very good news for those looking to counter the arguments of online gambling opponents, it’s important to keep in mind that this is just one study. The lead author of the study, Dr. Andrew Przybylski, himself, said that there would need to be more research to replicate their findings. Elaborating further, Przybylski stated:

“.. more research grounded in open and robust scientific practices is needed to learn if games are truly as addictive as many fear.”

Further Research Needed

He also said that a future area of research should include the impact that Internet gambling addiction might have on a person’s overall health compared to the known impact of more general forms of gambling addiction. It’s possible that people who do become addictive might suffer more debilitating symptoms, spend more money, or suffer from health problems due to spending so much time in front of the computer. Another area that was not explored by the study is how much overlap there might be between online gambling addiction and general gambling addiction.

In fact, the study did not examine general gambling addiction at all, so we therefore do not know what rates the study might otherwise have found. The rates used to compare the subset of gambling addiction with overall gambling addiction had been derived from other studies, so while they are useful, they are not completely definitive.

Implications for iGaming Legislation

Since 2011, just three states in the US have adopted online gambling legislation, and while others have come close over the intervening years, anti-online gambling advocates, such as the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, have done their best to muster support for their position. This includes the billionaire professing his well known view that online poker was ‘the crack cocaine of gambling’, and organizing legislation such as The Restoration Of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), in order to roll back the revised interpretation of the UIGEA of 2006. The latest Oxford study, however, provide further scientific facts in which to counteract the views being advocated by Adelson and his supporters.