LOOT BOXES, VIDEO-GAMING AND GAMBLING: A PATH ANALYSIS MODEL WITH ADOLESCENTS DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

In the last thirty years, considerable attention has been given to the relationship between gaming and gambling (Delfabbro & King, 2020). In detail, it has been found an overlap between these two behaviours, and that problem gamers had a higher probability of also being problem gamblers compared to social or nongamers (e.g., Sanders & Wiliams, 2018). Within this theoretical framework, it has been proposed that loot boxes may represent a point of convergence between gaming and gambling (Brock & Johnson, 2021) because they are gambling-like activities embedded within video games. In our study, we proposed an integrative model of the relationship between loot box use, gaming frequency, gambling frequency, problem video gaming and problem gambling among adolescents. We investigate the model during the COVID-19 related lockdown considering that youth spent more time on videogaming during this period of social isolation. Participants were 1204 adolescents (57% males, mean age = 15.62 years, SD = 6.4) attending different high schools. Results indicated that the use of loot boxes had a significant indirect and positive effect on problem gambling through video gaming frequency, problem video gaming and gambling frequency. Indications for prevention can be derived from this model