Does Online Betting Cause Problem Gambling? No Dice, Says Trio of Recent Studies

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Does Online Betting Cause Problem Gambling No Dice, Says Trio of Recent Studies“Without clear research findings, a lazy assumption would be to state that online gambling has been an aggravating factor for problem gamblers,” says a recent post at Online Casino Reports. “And that’s because three long-term research studies have determined that problem gambling rates have not increased amid the industry’s growth.”

Studies at Harvard University, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), and the University of Buffalo all indicate that there is currently no upsurge in problem gambling stats as a result of online venues.

At Harvard, addiction specialist Dr. Howard Shaffer recently presented his findings from a research study on online gambling. he performed into online gambling. After years of analyzing betting data, “Shaffer was able to determine that greater accessibility at online gambling sites does not actually result in a higher rate of problem gambling.”

What Shaffer did note is that about 75 percent of online problem gamblers had “already displayed addictive behaviour before playing online.”

Recent work at the University of Buffalo backs up the Harvard research. There, Dr. John Welte led a study as a follow-up on his prior research related to the link he confirmed between problem online gambling by people who lived close to land-based casinos.

“Welte was surprised to discover that his findings actually supported those of Shaffer (and CAP). Over the past 10 years, he discovered that problem online gambling rates have remained flat in spite of major industry growth.”

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