Incidence of Internet gambling in Sweden: results from the Swedish longitudinal gambling study

Abstract

In the present study, Internet gambling was studied with data from the first two waves of the Swedish longitudinal gambling study. Self-reported gambling problems, alcohol consumption, smoking, mental health, social support, gender and other socio-demographic factors were evaluated with respect to the prevalence of Internet gambling in 2008 and 2009 and the incidence in 2009. Multivariate logistic regression was used. In 2009 most Internet gamblers (72%) were men. However, women seem to have become more involved in Internet gambling. In 2009, 62.5% of new Internet gamblers since 2008 were men. Mental health, alcohol, smoking and social support were not predictive factors for incident Internet gambling. Self-reported gambling on regulated Internet sites showed higher prevalence rates of problem gamblers than gambling on land-based forms in 2008, but not in 2009. At both time-points, unregulated sites had the highest rates of problem gambling. The findings suggest that a gender perspective on Internet gambling is needed as well as carefully designed policies and research related to the regulation of Internet gambling.