Gambling and Technological Addictions Research Unit, Psychology School, University of Valencia, Avda. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Sep 1;23(1):1686. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16610-x.
The objective of this study is to present a conceptual framework for the prevention of gambling disorder and try to corroborate some of its postulates. The assumption of gambling as if it were acting like a virus may have important considerations in terms of preventing gambling disorder in society and, therefore, it could be a relevant public health issue.
Like COVID-19, gambling disorder is a disease which is caused by the action of an external agent. The external agent was already in existence, but certain environmental conditions (absence of regulatory measures based on the prevention of gambling disorder) favored its propagation. Regarding immunization, for SARS-CoV-2, it is obtained through vaccination and prevention of exposure. However, it is unlikely that immunization can be developed for any gambling addiction prevention program to immunize everyone who is exposed to the "gambling virus". So, in the case of gambling disorder, preventive strategies should rather prevent gambling from affecting most people by limiting availability (supply) and accessibility (ease of access) to gambling.
This research is a quasi-experimental investigation aimed to evaluate the effects of anti-COVID measures on the frequency of gambling and evolution of gambling disorder. The present study analyzed gambling patterns and the problems caused by gambling in 2,903 people, including those who were at-risk gamblers or had a gambling disorder.
In general terms, restrictive measures to combat COVID-19 worked to prevent the consolidation of gambling habits and the appearance of gambling disorder, but they did not seem to be sufficient for people who already had this disorder. The most affected games were electronic games machines (EGMs) that took place in public places (gambling halls, bars and restaurants, etc.).
The findings of this work support the hypothesis that, just as the SAR-CoV-2 virus is responsible for the global pandemic of COVID-19, which can only be stopped with vaccines and social distancing, in the case of gambling, the absence of an effective vaccine for "gambling virus" can lead to an epidemic of gambling disorders in societies, if the environmental conditions that are favorable for the spread of such virus are not modified. Some preventive strategies that can be useful from a public health frame of reference are suggested.
本研究旨在提出预防赌博障碍的概念框架，并尝试证实其中的一些假设。将赌博视为一种类似于病毒的行为，可能在预防社会中的赌博障碍方面具有重要意义，因此，它可能是一个相关的公共卫生问题。
像 COVID-19 一样，赌博障碍是一种由外部因素引起的疾病。外部因素已经存在，但某些环境条件（缺乏基于预防赌博障碍的监管措施）有利于其传播。关于免疫接种，对于 SARS-CoV-2，可以通过接种疫苗和预防暴露来获得。然而，不太可能开发出针对任何赌博成瘾预防计划的免疫接种，以使接触“赌博病毒”的每个人都能免疫。因此，在赌博障碍的情况下，预防策略应该通过限制赌博的可获得性（供应）和可及性（易获取性）来防止赌博影响大多数人。
这是一项准实验研究，旨在评估抗 COVID 措施对赌博频率和赌博障碍演变的影响。本研究分析了 2903 人（包括有风险的赌徒或有赌博障碍的人）的赌博模式和赌博问题。
总的来说，抗击 COVID-19 的限制措施有助于防止赌博习惯的巩固和赌博障碍的出现，但对于已经患有这种障碍的人来说，这些措施似乎还不够。受影响最大的游戏是在公共场所（赌场、酒吧和餐馆等）进行的电子游戏机器（EGMs）。
这项工作的结果支持了这样一种假设，即正如 SARS-CoV-2 病毒是导致 COVID-19 全球大流行的原因，只有通过疫苗接种和社交距离才能阻止这种病毒，在赌博的情况下，如果不改变有利于这种病毒传播的环境条件，针对“赌博病毒”的有效疫苗的缺乏可能会导致赌博障碍在社会中的流行。从公共卫生角度来看，提出了一些可能有用的预防策略。
