Are Some Subtypes of Video Gamer More at Risk for Gambling Issues? A Latent Class Analysis of a Canadian Sample of University Students

Abstract

Recently there has been growing interest in identifying links between video game playing and problem gambling. As video games continue to take on more gambling-like elements such as loot boxes, there is rising concern that they represent a potential pathway towards problem gambling. In this study, we explored video gamer profiles in a sample of Canadian undergraduate university students ( n = 687) to examine whether subgroups of gamers had different risk profiles for problem video gaming and/or problem gambling. Three predominant subgroups emerged: universal, free-to-play, and general gamer classes. Whereas the free-to-play class was associated with higher average amounts of time spent playing video games, the universal class was associated with higher average scores on measures of problem video gaming, problem gambling, and impulsivity. Although motivational differences were evident, there were no significant mental health differences among subgroups in this sample. Resume On s’interesse de plus en plus depuis peu de temps a l’etablissement de liens entre la pratique des jeux video et le jeu compulsif. A mesure que les jeux video comportent davantage d’elements de jeux de hasard comme des coffres a butin, on s’inquiete davantage du fait qu’ils puissent mener au jeu compulsif. Cette etude a examine le profil de joueurs de jeux video parmi un echantillon d’etudiants canadiens de premier cycle ( n = 687) afin de determiner si les sous-groupes de joueurs presentaient un profil de risque different pour le jeu video compulsif et/ou le jeu compulsif. Trois sous-groupes predominants sont ressortis\xa0: universel, gratuit et general. Le groupe des jeux gratuits etait associe a une plus grande quantite de temps consacree a jouer a des jeux video, le groupe universel etait associe pour sa part a un pointage moyen plus eleve au titre des parametres de mesure du jeu video compulsif, du jeu compulsif et de l’impulsivite. Les differences de motivation etaient evidentes, mais les sous-groupes de cet echantillon ne presentaient aucune difference importante sur le plan de la sante mentale.