ArticleJournal of gambling studies2026
Comparative Analysis of Video Gamers, Esports Spectators, and Esports Athletes on Gambling, Gaming, and Psychological Characteristics.
Article in Journal of gambling studies, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Collegiate athletes in traditional sports are a vulnerable population for problem gambling. Little is known about whether collegiate esports (competitive video gaming) athletes share the same vulnerability. Additionally, existing research combines esports groups into a larger sample of involvement, which does not capture potential distinct behaviors. This cross-sectional comparative study aimed to address this gap by comparing gambling behaviors, gaming behaviors, and psychological characteristics of video gamers (n = 234), esports spectators (n = 137), and collegiate esports athletes (n = 116) from North America. An online survey was distributed to universities and collegiate esports communities through convenience sampling. All participants completed self-report measures assessing gambling behaviors, gaming behaviors, emotional regulation, and impulsivity. Kruskal-Wallis H-tests and post-hoc comparisons were used to assess group differences. Results show esports athletes significantly having the highest proportion of problem gambling (19%) relative to spectators (16.9%) and gamers (5.3%). Esports spectators significantly spent the most median money per day gambling (Median = 0.65), followed by gamers then esport athletes (Median = 0.00). Spectators had the highest problem gaming proportion (16.1%) than esports athletes (6.9%) and video gamers (3.4%). Video gamers scored the lowest on all subscales of gaming motives, whereas spectators reported highest motivations in escapism, coping and fantasy. Esports athletes' motivation was highest in social, competition, and skill development. Esports spectators reported the most difficulties in emotional regulation, followed by esports athletes then video gamers. Findings suggest that the normalization of gambling in esports could be associated with increased gambling engagement. Future research should explore prevention strategies and long-term esports involvement effects on gambling. Word Count: 250.
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