Effects of different durations of mandatory breaks on online gambling behaviour

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Author(s): Hopfgartner, Niklas ; Auer, Michael M. ; Santos, Tiago ; Helic, Denis ; Griffiths, Mark D.

Journal: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

Year Published: 2022

Date Added: March 23, 2023

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of duration of mandatory breaks on online gambling behaviour. It looks at how different lengths of mandatory breaks affect people’s gambling behaviours during and after the experiment. The results show that the time to next session tended to increase with longer mandatory breaks.

Citation: Hopfgartner, N., Auer, M., Santos, T., Helic, D., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). Cooling off and the effects of mandatory breaks in online gambling: A large-scale real-world study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00996-7.

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00996-7

Keywords: breaks in play ; gambling ; problem gambling ; responsible gambling ; responsible gambling resources

Topics: Gambling Resources ; Information for Operators

Conceptual Framework Factors: Environment - Responsible Gambling ; Resources - Harm Reduction, Prevention, and Protection ; Gambling Environment ; Gambling Resources

Study Design: Experimental: RCT (randomized controlled trial)

Geographic Coverage: Norway

Study Population: Online users of the Norsk Tipping gambling operator who had received at least one mandatory break between March and July 2020 (n = 12,510; initial dataset includes 23,234 people, with 61% male and a mean age of 47.3 years).

Sampling Procedure: Researchers used data from people who gambled online with the operator Norsk Tipping. They retained the people who had at least one mandatory break before the experiment as well as during the experiment.

Study Funding:

This study was funded by Norsk Tipping. Open access funding was from Graz University of Technology.