Abstract
In this research, we aimed to provide a comparative examination of at-risk gambling and four types of gambling activities from the standpoint of socioeconomic, demographic and psychological factors. Using data collected from 7,385 adults aged 18–64 from Serbia, we investigated how specific variables contribute to the likelihood of participation in lottery playing, sports betting, casino games, and slot games across the three time frames (lifetime, last year, and last month), and at-risk gambling. Logistic regressions revealed that male sex, ages 18 to 34, drug use, harmful alcohol use, and elevated levels of distress were significant predictors of participation in any point of life in sports betting, casino games, and slot games, and at-risk gambling. Secondary education, residing in an urban area, and harmful alcohol use predicted – across three time frames – the engagement in lottery playing, sports betting, and slot games playing, respectively. Smoking, and specifically heavy smoking, was shown to be predictive of lifetime participation in all types of gambling, while having single marital status and being unemployed emerged as the factors increasing the odds for the last-month slot games playing. Notably, the 18 to 24 age cohort turned out to be the most vulnerable part of the population, as they displayed the largest odds for at-risk gambling, and both lifetime and last-year involvement in sports betting, casino games, and slot games playing. This highlights the necessity of targeted public health interventions for the young adult population and people who experiment or already experience problems related to substance use.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the fact that they constitute an excerpt of a larger research project carried out by the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut”. Information on how to obtain it and reproduce the analysis is available from the corresponding author on request.
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Acknowledgements
Partial financial support was received from the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia under contract number 451-03-47/2023-01/200005.
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BN: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing—original draft. JZ: Conceptualization, Writing—review and editing, Supervision. BK: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing—review and editing.
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The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval for the implementation of both surveys was obtained from the review board of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut” (decision number 178/1 for 2014; decision number 6766/1 for 2018).
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Nedeljković, B., Zubović, J. & Kilibarda, B. Exploring Socioeconomic, Demographic and Psychological Predictors of At-risk Gambling and Participation in Specific Gambling Activities: A Comparative Approach. J Gambl Stud 40, 873–891 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-023-10278-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-023-10278-z