Orig. title: Loneliness and online gambling-community participation of young social media users
Engl. transl.: Loneliness and online gambling-community participation of young social media users
Keywords
GamblingExcessive gamblingLonelinessOnline communitiesInternetVignette experiment
Publication details
| Year: | 2019 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.chb.2019.01.023 |
| Issued: | 2019 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 95 |
| Start Page: | 136 |
| End Page: | 145 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Sirola A.; Kaakinen M.; Savolainen I.; Oksanen A. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Computers in Human Behavior |
| Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
| Topics: | Social mediation; Internet usage, practices and engagement; Wellbeing |
| Sample: | Finnish (N = 1200 and N = 230) and U.S. (N = 1212) adolescents and young adults aged 15-25. |
| Implications For Stakeholders About: | Healthcare |
Abstract
Individuals use online communities for social networking and to find similar others. These communities can be attractive for individuals who are dissatisfied with their offline relationships. This article reports two studies analyzing the daily participation in online gambling-communities. In Study 1, self-reported measures were used to examine the role of loneliness, excessive gambling, and Internet use in daily online gambling-community participation. In Study 2, a gambling-related vignette experiment was used to analyze how characteristics of online behavior predict daily online gambling-community participation. Both studies are based on three samples collected among Finnish (N = 1200 and N = 230) and U.S. (N = 1212) adolescents and young adults. In Finland and the U.S., daily online gambling-community participation was more likely among compulsive Internet users and individuals who gambled excessively. In Finland, loneliness moderated the effect between gambling problems and daily gambling-community participation, but in the U.S., loneliness had no moderating effect. Preferring pro-gambling to antigambling content also predicted more likely daily online gambling-community participation. Online gambling-communities are attractive for young individuals who experience gambling problems and are interested in gambling overall.
Outcome
1. Online communities attract lonely individuals with psycho-social problems 2. Loneliness can influence online gambling-community participation 3. Gambling problems and interest towards gambling predicted participation.