Gambling, Gaming, and Internet Behavior in a Sexual Minority Perspective. A Cross-Sectional Study in Seven European Countries
(2022) In Frontiers in Psychology 12.- Abstract
Background: Addictive behavior of gambling, gaming and internet activity is partly a new research domain and has not been well investigated with regard to sexual minority populations. Although health disparities between sexual minorities and the general population are well documented, there is a lack of inclusion of sexual minorities in both research and clinic. Among lesbian, gay and bisexual populations certain features could be present that play a role for the development of addictive behaviors, such as social isolation and increased risk of other psychiatric problems. The aim of this study was to investigate problem gambling, problem gaming and problematic internet behavior in a European context and if it is affected by sexual... (More)
Background: Addictive behavior of gambling, gaming and internet activity is partly a new research domain and has not been well investigated with regard to sexual minority populations. Although health disparities between sexual minorities and the general population are well documented, there is a lack of inclusion of sexual minorities in both research and clinic. Among lesbian, gay and bisexual populations certain features could be present that play a role for the development of addictive behaviors, such as social isolation and increased risk of other psychiatric problems. The aim of this study was to investigate problem gambling, problem gaming and problematic internet behavior in a European context and if it is affected by sexual orientation status. Methods: An online web-survey was distributed among web-panels in England, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden in 2017–2018. Result: 10 983 complete answers were collected. 7.1% of the participants had a sexual minority status (n = 774). Regression models found that there was no difference in gambling, gaming and internet behavior among heterosexual and sexual minority men. Sexual minority women were associated with problematic gambling and gaming behavior, when also controlling for age and nationality. When also controlling for psychological distress, women defining as having another sexual minority status than lesbian and bisexual remained significant for having a problematic gaming behavior (AOR = 2.3). Conclusion: An awareness of female sexual minority perspectives is relevant in facilities treating behavioral addiction as well as in future research in behavioral addiction. More research is needed in problematic gambling and gaming behavior in different sexual minority populations with regard to psychiatric comorbidity and living conditions. An inclusion of sexual minority groups defining as other than gay and bisexual is needed in future research. No significant differences were found between heterosexual and sexual minority men in adjusted analysis in this study.
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- author
- Broman, Niroshani LU ; Prever, Fulvia ; di Giacomo, Ester ; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana ; Szczegielniak, Anna LU ; Hansson, Helena LU and Håkansson, Anders LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- bisexual, Europe, gambling, gaming, gay, internet behavior, lesbian, sexual minorities
- in
- Frontiers in Psychology
- volume
- 12
- article number
- 707645
- publisher
- Frontiers Media S. A.
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:35498152
- scopus:85128841032
- ISSN
- 1664-1078
- DOI
- 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.707645
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a6e95a10-354d-45f2-9fff-2f001c7533e8
- date added to LUP
- 2022-07-01 14:25:37
- date last changed
- 2024-09-20 03:02:28
@article{a6e95a10-354d-45f2-9fff-2f001c7533e8, abstract = {{<p>Background: Addictive behavior of gambling, gaming and internet activity is partly a new research domain and has not been well investigated with regard to sexual minority populations. Although health disparities between sexual minorities and the general population are well documented, there is a lack of inclusion of sexual minorities in both research and clinic. Among lesbian, gay and bisexual populations certain features could be present that play a role for the development of addictive behaviors, such as social isolation and increased risk of other psychiatric problems. The aim of this study was to investigate problem gambling, problem gaming and problematic internet behavior in a European context and if it is affected by sexual orientation status. Methods: An online web-survey was distributed among web-panels in England, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden in 2017–2018. Result: 10 983 complete answers were collected. 7.1% of the participants had a sexual minority status (n = 774). Regression models found that there was no difference in gambling, gaming and internet behavior among heterosexual and sexual minority men. Sexual minority women were associated with problematic gambling and gaming behavior, when also controlling for age and nationality. When also controlling for psychological distress, women defining as having another sexual minority status than lesbian and bisexual remained significant for having a problematic gaming behavior (AOR = 2.3). Conclusion: An awareness of female sexual minority perspectives is relevant in facilities treating behavioral addiction as well as in future research in behavioral addiction. More research is needed in problematic gambling and gaming behavior in different sexual minority populations with regard to psychiatric comorbidity and living conditions. An inclusion of sexual minority groups defining as other than gay and bisexual is needed in future research. No significant differences were found between heterosexual and sexual minority men in adjusted analysis in this study.</p>}}, author = {{Broman, Niroshani and Prever, Fulvia and di Giacomo, Ester and Jiménez-Murcia, Susana and Szczegielniak, Anna and Hansson, Helena and Håkansson, Anders}}, issn = {{1664-1078}}, keywords = {{bisexual; Europe; gambling; gaming; gay; internet behavior; lesbian; sexual minorities}}, language = {{eng}}, publisher = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}}, series = {{Frontiers in Psychology}}, title = {{Gambling, Gaming, and Internet Behavior in a Sexual Minority Perspective. A Cross-Sectional Study in Seven European Countries}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.707645}}, doi = {{10.3389/fpsyg.2021.707645}}, volume = {{12}}, year = {{2022}}, }