National Addictions Management Service (NAMS), Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok Green Medical Park, Singapore 539747, Singapore.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Apr 23;15(4):832. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15040832.
Given that technology has greatly facilitated easier access to gambling in previous years, it is timely to look in-depth into online gambling activities and behaviors. There have been several studies that examined online gambling. However, most of the current studies to date have focused on determining the prevalence and the epidemiology of problem gambling arising from online gambling in Western cohorts. There remains a paucity of research looking at the problem of online gambling among Asian individuals. The objectives of the current study are to elucidate the characteristics of online gambling among an Asian cohort and to explore the harm associated with online gambling and the potential mechanisms by which harm associated with online gambling could be minimized. It is hoped that the findings of the current paper will bridge the existing gaps in the research literature. A cross-sectional study design was utilized to recruit 100 participants who were attending outpatient services at the National Addictions Management Service (NAMS) from March 2014 to October 2015. The majority of the participants were male, of Chinese ethnicity and under the age of 30 years old (48%). Mobile phones and smartphones were the most commonly utilized platforms for gambling online. The median largest ever debt incurred as a result of online gambling ($20,000) was significantly more than that due to offline gambling ($500) ( = −4.17, < 0.001). As for the biggest ever loss, participants had incurred a significantly larger median loss from online gambling ($7000) ( = −2.73, < 0.01) compared to offline gambling ($2000). A total of 18.4% of participants had waited between 1 to 2 years from their first online gambling experience to seek treatment and 17.3% had waited for more than 10 years. This is perhaps one of the first Asian studies to investigate the serious harm involved in online gambling. The findings from our study are intended to guide further interventions in the treatment of online gambling related disorders; and would be of interest to governmental organizations in their planning of regulations for online gambling.
鉴于技术在过去几年极大地促进了更容易获得赌博的机会，现在是深入研究在线赌博活动和行为的时候了。已经有几项研究检查了在线赌博。然而，迄今为止，大多数当前的研究都集中在确定源自西方人群的在线赌博的赌博问题的普遍性和流行病学上。在亚洲个体中，关于在线赌博问题的研究仍然很少。本研究的目的是阐明亚洲人群中在线赌博的特征，并探讨与在线赌博相关的危害，以及如何最大限度地减少与在线赌博相关的危害的潜在机制。希望本论文的研究结果能够弥补现有研究文献中的空白。本研究采用横断面研究设计，于 2014 年 3 月至 2015 年 10 月期间招募了 100 名参加国家成瘾管理服务（NAMS）门诊服务的参与者。大多数参与者为男性，华裔，年龄在 30 岁以下（48%）。手机和智能手机是在线赌博最常用的平台。由于在线赌博而欠下的最大债务中位数（20000 美元）明显高于线下赌博（500 美元）（=−4.17，<0.001）。至于最大损失，参与者在在线赌博中遭受的中位数损失（7000 美元）（=−2.73，<0.01）明显大于线下赌博（2000 美元）。总共有 18.4%的参与者在首次尝试在线赌博后等待了 1 至 2 年才接受治疗，17.3%的参与者等待了 10 年以上。这也许是首次调查亚洲人在线赌博严重危害的亚洲研究之一。本研究的结果旨在指导在线赌博相关障碍治疗的进一步干预措施；并引起政府机构对在线赌博监管计划的关注。
