#gamblingdisorder — Public Fediverse posts
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Free-to-play video games carry heavy financial costs for a vulnerable minority of teens
A recent study has found that financial spending on video games is highly unequal among adolescents, with just 10 percent of paying players accounting for over 60 percent of all in-game purchases. The research indicates that these heavy spenders are more likely to exhibit symptoms of gaming and gambling disorders, regardless of their family’s economic background. The findings, published in Frontiers in Public Health, raise consumer protection concerns about modern video game monetization strategies.
The research, led by Markus Meschik, a professor of social pedagogy at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, aimed to understand the extent of monetary expenditure on in-game purchases among adolescents in Austria.
“In my work as a counselor for families affected by problematic video gaming, I repeatedly encountered young players who were spending large amounts of money in games,” Meschik told PsyPost.
“This was not limited to loot boxes, which have already been studied quite extensively, but also involved in-game purchases in games more generally. Both the actual extent of these expenditures and their associations with pathological behaviors have received relatively little research attention so far, which is why we conducted this study.”
Over the past decade, the video game industry has shifted away from selling games as single, standalone products. Instead, many developers now use a free-to-play model.
These games cost nothing to download but rely on continuous microtransactions to generate revenue. Microtransactions are small, real-money purchases made during gameplay. Players might buy cosmetic items that change a character’s appearance or pay for features that provide a competitive advantage.
Often, these purchases involve loot boxes, which are virtual grab-bags that dispense randomized digital rewards. Because the player does not know what they will get until they pay and open the box, the mechanics closely mirror traditional casino games. This convergence of gaming and gambling has raised concerns, particularly regarding younger players whose impulse control is still developing.
Previous investigations have shown that randomized in-game purchases can carry risks. For instance, a 2018 survey showed that adult gamers who spent more money on loot boxes tended to experience more severe gambling problems. In the broader betting industry, revenue is notoriously dependent on a tiny fraction of heavy spenders.
For example, a 2019 study of traditional gambling markets indicated that a disproportionately large share of revenue comes from problem gamblers. Meschik and his colleagues wanted to know if this same pattern exists in the video game market for adolescents. They also aimed to determine whether heavy spenders in video games come from wealthier families, or if disadvantaged youth are spending large amounts of money they might not be able to afford.
To explore these questions, the research team analyzed survey data from 2,308 students aged 10 to 19 across various school types in Austria. The sample was roughly evenly split between boys and girls. The survey asked students about their video game habits, their in-game spending over the past 12 months, and their family’s economic status.
The researchers also included psychological screening tools to check for signs of gaming disorder and gambling disorder. Gaming disorder involves a loss of control over gaming habits to the point that it disrupts daily life and responsibilities. Gambling disorder is a similar condition related to betting money, and this screening was only given to the 103 students who reported actually gambling with real money in the past year.
Out of the total sample, 818 participants, or about 35 percent, reported spending money on in-game purchases during the past year. Among these paying players, the average annual expenditure was about 170 euros. Boys spent considerably more than girls, averaging 181 euros compared to 102 euros.
Spending did not simply increase as children got older. Instead, it peaked among 15- to 16-year-olds, who averaged over 200 euros in yearly in-game purchases. When the researchers looked at how this spending was distributed across the group, they found extreme inequality.
Most adolescents spent very little, but a small minority spent massive amounts. The top 10 percent of spenders, often referred to in the gaming and gambling industries as whales, accounted for 61.4 percent of all the money spent by the entire group. These 85 heavy spenders spent between 400 and 12,000 euros in a single year, averaging just over 1,000 euros each.
“The strong concentration of spending was particularly striking,” Meschik said. “Consumer spending is often described using the Pareto principle, according to which roughly 20% of consumers account for 80% of revenue of a product.”
“In our sample, however, the distribution was even more concentrated,” he explained. “A similarly pronounced concentration of spending can also be observed in gambling, which makes this pattern particularly noteworthy.”
Heavy spenders were mostly boys, and they were more likely to show signs of psychological distress. Among the heavy spenders, 14.1 percent met the criteria for gaming disorder, compared to just 4.2 percent of the casual spenders. Within the smaller subgroup of students who also gambled with real money, the heavy in-game spenders were substantially more likely to meet the criteria for a probable gambling disorder.
Interestingly, a family’s financial situation had no bearing on whether a teenager became a heavy spender. Adolescents from lower-income backgrounds spent roughly the same absolute amounts of money on games as their wealthier peers. This indicates that high spending is not restricted to teenagers with a lot of disposable family income.
Instead, young people with fewer financial resources might be dedicating a much larger share of their available money to virtual items, making the financial burden heavier for them. These results are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that excessive engagement with loot boxes was associated with higher levels of problematic gambling behaviors. The new study demonstrates comparable patterns, though it examined overall in-game microtransaction spending among adolescents, whereas the earlier study focused specifically on loot box use in adults, with both linking heavy game-related spending to problem gambling.
“One important takeaway is that free-to-play games are not necessarily free in practice,” Meschik told PsyPost. “Players, even young ones, can spend substantial amounts of money on these games, and higher spending can be associated with pathological behaviors, irrespective of socioeconomic status.”
“Our findings also suggest that existing regulations may not be sufficient and that additional measures to protect vulnerable players should be considered,” he added.
“Spending money in video games is not problematic per se,” Meschik noted. “The majority of players appear to use these monetization models without experiencing problems, as the industry also regularly emphasizes.”
“This does not excuse the absence of regulation, however. Regulatory efforts should aim at protecting the smaller group of players who spend disproportionately large amounts of money and who may also experience pathological gaming or gambling-related behaviors, for example by introducing greater friction into purchasing processes and additional safeguards for high levels of spending.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on self-reported data, which means participants had to remember and estimate how much money they spent over an entire year. People often struggle to accurately recall their expenses, especially when making many small digital purchases over a long period.
Heavy spenders might have underestimated their total costs, which could affect the exact financial figures reported. Additionally, the gambling disorder screening was only given to a small subset of 103 students who reported betting real money in the past year. Because of this small sample size, the estimates regarding gambling disorder should be viewed as preliminary.
The research also captured a single snapshot in time. This makes it impossible to know whether spending money in video games causes problematic behaviors to develop, or if adolescents who already have these tendencies are just more drawn to heavy in-game spending. Future research could benefit from using actual transaction data from video game companies to track spending patterns more objectively.
Exploring how specific consumer protection measures, such as mandatory spending limits or better transparency regarding the odds of winning digital items, might help mitigate these risks would also provide practical guidance for policymakers.
“One important next step is to understand the mechanisms or dark patterns behind these numbers,” Meschik said. “Quantitative data can show us that heavy spending and problematic behavior are associated, but they tell us much less about why people continue spending, how they experience these systems, and which game-design mechanisms are particularly influential.”
“We are therefore also interested in qualitative research with high-spending players, including adults, and in examining similarities and differences between monetization mechanisms in digital games and gambling,” he explained. “In the longer term, I hope this work can contribute to evidence-based consumer protection and to a discussion about how game monetization can be designed without disproportionately relying on vulnerable players.”
The study, “Heavy spenders in digital games: expenditure disparities and associations between microtransactions, gaming disorder and gambling disorder among adolescents,” was authored by Markus Meschik, Elena Hammer, Doris Malischnig, Natalia Wächter, and Mark D. Griffiths.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HeavySpendersInGames #InGamePurchases #LootBoxes #GamingDisorder #GamblingDisorder #FreeToPlayCosts #AdolescentGaming #Microtransactions #ConsumerProtection #ParetoPrinciple
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Gambling Disorder: 4 Truths from a Groundbreaking New Study
Originally Published on January 20th, 2026 at 08:00 amWhen you picture someone with a gambling disorder, a specific image might come to mind. But what if that stereotype is outdated and dangerously incomplete?
A groundbreaking new study from an innovative program in Madrid called ‘Adcom’ reveals that the digital age is forging a new, more complex, and more hidden type of gambling addict. This research, based on hundreds of individuals who sought help voluntarily. And it challenges our most common assumptions about who is affected and why.
This article shares the most impactful and counter-intuitive findings from this research.
Prepare to see what gambling addiction really looks like today.
1. It’s Rarely Just About Gambling: The Hidden Mental Health Crisis
One of the study’s most critical findings is the extremely high rate at which Gambling Disorder co-occurs with other serious mental health conditions.
This situation, known as “Gambling Dual Disorder (GDD),” suggests that gambling is not an isolated issue. It’s a symptom of a much larger mental health struggle.
Among the participants who self-referred for a gambling problem, the numbers were stark:
- 57.4% showed evidence of other psychopathological symptoms.
- 64.9% experienced significant symptoms of depression.
- 51.3% were at risk for an anxiety disorder.
- 37.4% screened positive for ADHD.
This reframes gambling not as a simple lack of willpower, but as a complex disorder deeply intertwined with a person’s overall mental well-being. To be effective, treatment cannot just focus on the gambling; it must address these co-occurring conditions as well.
Gambling Disorder can be defined as “persistent and recurrent problematic gambling that leads to significant impairment or distress”.
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2. The Digital Divide: Online and Offline People with Gambling Disorder Are Strikingly Different People
This complex mental health picture becomes even more fragmented when we look at where the gambling happens. A divide that is creating two entirely different profiles of addiction.
The study revealed significant and clear differences between online gambling versus those who struggled with offline gambling. The most compelling demographic contrasts paint a clear picture:
- Age: The average online gambler was 30.6 years old, a full generation younger than the average offline gambler at 43.4 years old.
- Gender: While men were the majority in both groups, the disparity was much greater online. Only 5.3% of online gamblers were female, compared to 20.5% of offline gamblers.
- Prior Treatment: Individuals with offline gambling problems were far more likely to have previously sought help for a mental health issue (62.1%) than those with online problems (42.9%).
These differences are profound.
Technology has fractured the landscape of addiction. It’s created a younger, more isolated cohort that is harder to reach.
The fact that this online group has had significantly less prior contact with mental health services suggests a new, underserved population. A population that may not be captured by traditional outreach and may be less aware of their own underlying conditions.
More About Gambling Disorder
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Gambling Disorder: 4 Truths from a Groundbreaking New Study
New Adcom study reveals gambling disorder today: high mental-health overlap, online/offline differences, compulsive buying link, and key predictors.
January 20, 2026 -
5 Hidden Ways the Gambling Industry Engineers Harm
A health lens reveals how the gambling industry engineers harm: blame-shifting “responsible gambling,” addictive design, and policy capture fueling crisis.
January 6, 2026 -
Holiday Gambling: Why You Bet Matters More Than How Much
Are you planning to do a little gambling this holiday on a football game? Why you bet is more important than how much, according to this new study.
December 23, 2025
3. A Shocking Connection: Gambling Disorder and Compulsive Buying Go Hand-in-Hand
Perhaps the single most surprising finding was the powerful link between Gambling Disorder and another behavioral addiction: compulsive buying.
The study found that compulsive buying was a potential problem in an astonishing 85.2% of participants.
Breaking this down even further, for 57.7% of the entire group, the existence of a compulsive buying problem was considered “very probable/sure.”
This is highly counter-intuitive.
While both behaviors involve money, they are often viewed as completely separate issues. This powerful correlation is not just a quirky finding. It’s evidence that Gambling Disorder may be part of a broader spectrum of impulse-control disorders rooted in similar neurological pathways. It highlights a shared underlying mechanism related to the brain’s reward system and the cycle of financial distress and emotional coping.
4. Your Background and Other Vices Can Predict How You Gamble
The study went beyond simple descriptions to identify factors that could predict whether a person was more likely to struggle with online versus offline gambling. This analysis revealed a complex interplay of cultural factors, lifestyle, and co-occurring disorders that shape a person’s specific addictive behaviors.
The research identified several key predictors:
- Being born in Spain increased the odds of having an online gambling problem by more than five times.
- Excessive Internet use nearly tripled the odds of having an online gambling problem.
- Conversely, having a co-occurring alcohol addiction or an eating disorder significantly reduced the odds of having an online problem, making it far more likely the gambling problem was offline.
These points reveal that the specific form an addiction takes is not random. It is shaped by a combination of a person’s environment, other behaviors, and personal history.
Conclusion: A New Call for Awareness of Gambling Disorder
The message from this research is clear: the digital age has forged a new profile of gambling addiction that is younger, more hidden, and more complex. The old stereotypes simply don’t fit the modern reality.
Innovative programs like Adcom, which lower the barriers to seeking help, are not only crucial for providing treatment but also for gathering the vital data needed to truly understand the problem. This new knowledge allows for better prevention, more targeted interventions, and a more compassionate public understanding of a deeply challenging disorder.
Knowing that online addiction strikes a younger group with less mental health history, how must we radically change our outreach to find and help this hidden population before it’s too late?
How do you view gambling disorder after reading this article? Let us know in the comments!
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#addictionRecovery #ADHD #anxiety #behavioralAddiction #casinoGambling #comorbidity #compulsiveBuying #depression #digitalAddiction #dualDiagnosis #gamblingAddiction #gamblingDisorder #impulseControl #mentalHealth #mentalHealthTreatment #onlineGambling #problemGambling #publicHealth #researchStudy #sportsBetting -
Holiday Gambling: Why You Bet Matters More Than How Much
Originally Published on December 23rd, 2025 at 08:00 amThe Surprising Psychology of Sports Gambling
Are you thinking about placing a little wager on a football game this holiday season? With the rapid growth and normalization of sports gambling across the United States and Canada, betting on a game is more common than ever. But what are the real reasons people gamble?
Most would assume it’s simply for fun, to make a game more exciting, or for the chance to win money. But what if the most important metric for gambling risk isn’t on a bank statement, but in the unseen emotions driving the bet?
A recent study of over 900 sports bettors reveals a more complex picture, uncovering deeper psychological motivations that separate casual fun from problematic behavior. The findings challenge our basic assumptions about gambling risk. This article will break down the five most impactful takeaways from this research, revealing that the “why” behind a bet is far more important than the “how much.”
1. Your Reason for Betting Matters More Than How Much You Spend
One of the study’s most unexpected findings was the relationship between mental health, betting habits, and gambling problems. The research showed that greater anxiety and depression were strongly linked to the severity of a person’s gambling problems. However, these emotional states were not significantly related to the total amount of money a person spent or the total number of bets they made.
This insight reframes how we should think about risk. It’s not just about the financial footprint of betting, but the emotional impetus behind it.
According to the study, the true indicator of risk isn’t found in a bettor’s bank statement, but in the emotional state that drives them to bet in the first place.
This is a critical distinction. It shifts the focus from a purely financial view of problem gambling to a psychological one, suggesting that the “why” you bet is a more telling sign of risk than the “how much” you spend.
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2. The Crucial Difference: Gambling for Fun vs. Betting to Escape
The study identified two key motivations that drive people to bet, each with vastly different outcomes:
- Enhancement Motives: Betting to increase positive emotions. This is the classic reason—placing a wager to add to the thrill and enjoyment of watching a game.
- Coping Motives: Betting to reduce or escape from negative feelings, such as anxiety, stress, or depression.
The results linked to each motive were counter-intuitive.
This revealed a fascinating paradox: while betting to enhance the fun of a game was linked to placing bets more often, it was simultaneously associated with fewer gambling problems. This suggests a clear psychological dividing line between frequent, low-risk engagement and problematic, high-risk behavior.
In stark contrast, betting to cope was the single strongest pathway linking pre-existing anxiety and depression to serious gambling problems.
Crucially, this connection held true even when the researchers accounted for other potential drivers like betting for social or financial reasons, isolating ‘coping’ as the most dangerous motivation. This finding strongly supports the “emotionally vulnerable pathway” model of problem gambling, where individuals use gambling as a maladaptive strategy to manage emotional distress.
3. “In-Play” Gambling Is a Different Beast Entirely
“In-play” sports betting, defined as making wagers during a live game, has exploded in popularity. The study’s findings on this specific group were stark. Compared to bettors who only place wagers before a game starts (single-event or traditional bettors), in-play bettors reported:
- Significantly higher levels of problem gambling.
- Significantly higher scores for both anxiety and depression.
- A higher frequency of betting.
This raises a critical question for researchers: does the high-speed, constant-feedback nature of in-play betting actively create psychological distress, or does it primarily attract individuals already struggling with anxiety and depression who are seeking a powerful distraction?
As professionals, our time is valuable. Dr. Weeks created the Mitigation Aide Research Archive because there isn’t enough focused, data-backed research available in easily digestible formats.
4. For Sports Bettors, Anxiety and Depression Are Often Intertwined
The research observed that in this sample of sports bettors, depression and anxiety were “highly correlated.” In simple terms, participants who scored high on one tended to score high on the other.
The researchers noted that this suggests these conditions are more likely to be comorbid—or occur together—in people who bet on sports. The connection was so strong that the effects of anxiety and depression on gambling behaviors often overlapped. This reinforces the concept of a combined “emotional vulnerability” that can fuel problematic gambling, rather than a single, isolated mental health issue.
5. The Psychological Blueprint Is Surprisingly Consistent Across Genders
The study also examined differences between men and women, revealing a nuanced picture. On the surface, there were clear differences in behavior and emotional states:
- Men engaged in sports betting on significantly more days than women.
- Women reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, and betting for social and coping reasons.
Despite these differences in emotional states and motivations, men and women reported statistically similar levels of overall gambling problems.
The more profound finding was that despite these surface-level differences, the underlying psychological model was the same for both groups.
The core pathways showing how anxiety, depression, and motives lead to gambling problems did not differ between men and women. This suggests that when it comes to the fundamental emotional drivers of problem gambling, gender may not change the blueprint. Interventions, therefore, can likely focus on these consistent psychological drivers for everyone.
Conclusion
This research cuts through the noise of wins, losses, and dollar amounts to deliver a clear message:
Understanding the motivation behind gambling is the key to understanding the risk of it becoming a problem.
While many people bet to enhance their enjoyment of a sport with few negative consequences, the data points to a clear red flag:
The strongest pathway to serious gambling problems isn’t rooted in how much money is spent, but in whether the bettor is motivated by a need to cope with or escape from negative emotions.
Before placing your next bet, it might be worth asking: am I doing this to enhance my fun, or to escape my feelings?
Drop a comment and let us know if you were able to identify any motivations you may have for acting out this holiday season.
Are you a professional looking to stay up-to-date with the latest information on, sex addiction, trauma, and mental health news and research? Or maybe you’re looking for continuing education courses? Then you should stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!
Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.
Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.
#addictionRecovery #anxietyAndGambling #behavioralAddiction #bettingBehavior #bettingMotives #copingMotives #depressionAndGambling #emotionalVulnerability #enhancementMotives #footballBetting #gamblingDisorder #gamblingEducation #gamblingPsychology #gamblingRiskFactors #harmReduction #holidayFootball #inPlayBetting #liveBetting #mentalHealth #problemGambling #responsibleGambling #selfReflection #sportsBetting #sportsGambling -
My new study examines which World Health Organization diagnostic criteria for #gambling and #gaming disorder may play a more central (core) or less central (peripheral) role in high-risk individuals.
tl;dr: core criteria for both disorders are very similar (with a small difference); 2) the most prominent symptom for both disorders is the experience of significant distress/functional impairments; and 3) although endorsing all criteria is a requirement for diagnosis, not all criteria are made equal.
Free access from here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120360
#gamblingdisorder #gamingdisorder #machinelearning #problemgambling #gamingaddiction
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Gambling Disorder has initially been understood as an impulse-control disorder and not as a behavioural addiction.
Yet, most popular assessment tools (e.g., PGSI, SOGS) are dated and do not take into account the shift in the conceptualisation of Gambling Disorder.
That's why we have developed the 'Gambling Disorder Test', and published our results in the Psychological Assessment journal:
More information here:
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Pleased to see our latest open-access #GamblingDisorder study published in Psychological Assessment: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pas0001374
Our research developed the Gambling Disorder Test, an easy-to-use, convenient, and ultra-brief standardised psychometric test for Gambling Disorder that aligns with the current diagnostic criteria in the ICD-11.