Voluntary limit-setting can keep intense online gamblers in check

A new study has shown that, among online gamblers, setting voluntary monetary limits can help players stay in control of their gambling and the most significant effects were seen among intense gamblers. The study, which comprised more than 49,500 online gamblers, is published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

"The Effects of Voluntary Deposit Limit-Setting on Long-Term Online Gambling Expenditure"/a> was coauthored by Michael Auer and Niklas Hopfgartner, neccton GmbH (Müllendorf, Austria) and Mark Griffiths, Nottingham Trent University (U.K.). The study examined whether setting voluntary monetary limits had any effect on online gambling expenditure over a one-year period. The researchers also divided the participants into groups according to age, gender, and gambling intensity, which was defined as the total amount of money wagered during a three-month period. Problem gamblers are more likely to fall into the higher intensity categories. The study showed that there was a significant decrease in the amount of money spent over the one-year period among the 10% most intense gamblers.

"This study reported on a dataset of 49,560 players from 7 countries and appears to further support the positive influence responsible gambling tools, such as limit setting, can have on individual behavior," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, Ph.D., MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.