Study Produces Surprising Results on Gambling

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If you are one of the millions out there who believes that a gambling addiction is synonymous with an internet addiction, you may be surprised by the results of a recent study conducted at the University of Melbourne. The study set out to try and discover a link between gambling and internet addictions and concluded that they simply did not overlap. It also found that these addictions affected different kinds of people who shared similar character traits.

The study, entitled "Commonalities in the Psychological Factors Associated with Problem Gambling and Internet Dependence" was conducted by Dr. NA Dowling, from the University of Melbourne and M. Brown from Monash University. The subjects, students at universities in Australia, were asked questions regarding their gambling and internet habits, based on the assumption that an addiction to gambling automatically meant an addiction to online gambling.

However, the findings, published in Rapid Communication in Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking, a peer reviewed journal, produced surprising results, especially for those who always claimed that the internet encouraged addiction to online gambling. More specifically, it was found that the two disorders were totally separate from one another.

Also shown was that there is a specific personality type that is more prone to any type of addiction - online gambling, gambling or others. The study showed that those who suffered from an addiction to the internet, and those who were addicted to gambling shared a similar psychological profile.

In other words, those who were prone to depression, social isolation, anxiety, loneliness and stress were more likely to be addicted to something, including gambling and the internet. However, it was clearly shown that they are were not MORE likely to become addicted to both the internet and online gambling.

The bottom line remains that the internet should not be viewed as the source of all evils when it comes to gambling and addictions. Those people who believe that they have a gambling problem are encouraged to contact a vast number of organizations that can help them. These organizations know how to recognize gambling problems and give the right type of assistance.

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