Covid-19 and ONline GAmbling

Completed

• Conditions: Gambling; Covid19

• Registration Number: NCT04714008
• Lead Sponsor: Nantes University Hospital

Brief Summary

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a major threat to global health. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, all eyes have been focused on the significant somatic complications of COVID-19, but the impact on behaviors, particularly those that can lead to addictive disorders, remains little studied. A set of factors could explain a change in gambling activities, both in number of gamblers and in intensity of practices, due to the pandemic. On the one hand, the reduction or even the interruption of sporting and horse racing competitions may induce a decrease in these activities (both online and offline). Moreover, the closure of certain gambling venues and travel restrictions may also lead to a decrease of offline gambling activities in general. On the other hand, gamblers who can no longer perform their usual gambling activity could refer to available online gambling activities (poker, lotteries, casinos, etc.). Moreover, the threat of a financial crisis, the negative impact on psychological well-being (due to social isolation, stress of being infected, etc.), and increased time spent freely online, could also very largely motivate an initiation or an exacerbation of the gambling activity, especially online and in people in a situation of vulnerability. Both in France and Sweden, the closing of sports and horse race events has led to a sharp decrease in sports and horse-race betting. In both countries, the increase in other gambling types, including illegal gambling, and their potential for gambling problems is a source of concerns for public health authorities. As a consequence, more research is promptly needed in this area.

The use of gambling tracking data, widely acclaimed in recent years in research on online gambling given its ecological nature, could allow observing longitudinally changes in online gambling practices (both the raw gambling activity and risky behaviors) and in the use of responsible gambling (RG) tools due to the pandemic. Moreover, the combination of French and Swedish data will allow comparing two countries with very distinct politics regarding the pandemics, i.e. a lockdown in France in March - May 2020 and then in November - December 2020 compared to no lockdown in Sweden. Finally, gambling in women is on the rise and women display specific gambling behaviors, especially in early stages of the online gambling practice. The project will include the investigation of gender specificities both in the investigation of the impacts of the pandemic and in the comparison of French and Sweden gambling behaviors. Age, type of gambling activity and country (France / Sweden) will also be taken into account.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-12-01
• Study First Submitted: 2021-01-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-01-15
• Study First Posted: 2021-01-19
• Primary Completion: 2024-12-31
• Study Completion: 2024-12-31
• Status Verified: 2025-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-05-02
• Last Update Posted: 2025-05-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 120000

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Trajectories of gambling behaviors across time before and during the pandemics	2019-2020	Because "gambling activity" is not directly measured as such, but rather observed as a combination of gambling indicators (e.g. money spent, type of game, numbers of gambling days, etc.), these indicators will be included as observed variables, explained by a latent (unobserved) variable, namely "gambling activity". Subgroups of gamblers with distinct impacts of the COVID-19 on their gambling activities will be identified.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Typologies of gamblers based on their gambling activity and their use of RG tools according to the type of gambling activity, gender, age groups and country	2019-2020	Profiles of gamblers who have similar gambling behaviors and/or use of RG tools, compared according to the type of gambling activity, gender, age groups and country
Typologies of gamblers based on their gambling activity and their use of RG tools outside the pandemics	2019	Profiles of gamblers who have similar gambling behaviors and/or use of RG tools
Gambling activity of early registered gamblers, during and outside the pandemics	6 months after registration	Typologies of gambling behavior trajectories across the 6 months after registration

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Nantes University Hospital; 🇫🇷 Nantes, France