Gambling during the COVID-19 crisis - A cause for concern?

The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to worsen mental health problems in the general population, including increasing engagement in addictive behaviors. Here, we describe observations suggesting that the current crisis and its sequelae may worsen problem gambling. The current pandemic may impact financial and psychological well-being due to social isolation during spatial distancing, and these stressors in conjunction with substantial changes in gambling markets (land-based, online) during the pandemic may significantly influence gambling behaviors. This situation calls for rapid research initiatives in this area and preventive and regulatory measures by multiple stakeholders. Send correspondence to Anders Håkansson, M.D., Ph.D., Lund University, Malmö, Sweden. E-mail: anders_c.hakansson@med.lu.se Received 23 April, 2020 Accepted 3 May, 2020 Conflicts of interest and source of funding: No funding has been received for the present work specifically. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to the content of this manuscript. Dr. Håkansson has received non-study-specific, overall research support from AB Svenska spel, the state-owned gambling operator of Sweden, and PhD student support and study-specific support from the research council of the same company. None of these fundings are related specifically to the present work. Håkansson also has received funding from the research council of Systembolaget, the Swedish alcohol monopoly, and from the Swedish Sport Foundation, for projets unrelated to the present work. Also, Håkansson collaborates with a company in a study on new technical devices for the clinical follow-up of gambling disorder patients, and in which the company (Kontigo care) provides the devices free of charge, although without any other fees or funding in that study (which is in a phase of early preparation). Håkansson has received honoraries from the Swedish book editor Studentlitteratur. Dr. Potenza discloses the following relationships: Dr. Potenza has received financial support or compensation for the following: Dr. Potenza has consulted for and advised RiverMend Health, Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Idorsia, the Addiction Policy Forum and AXA; has received research support from the Mohegan Sun Casino and the National Center for Responsible Gaming; has participated in surveys, mailings or telephone consultations related to addictive disorders or other health topics; has consulted for or advised law offices and gambling entities on issues related to addictive disorders and behaviors; has provided clinical care in the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Problem Gambling Services Program; has performed grant reviews; has edited journals and journal sections; has given academic lectures in grand rounds, CME events and other clinical or scientific venues; and has generated books or book chapters for publishers of mental health texts. Dr. Potenza has also been a member of the World Health Organization, COST Action 16207 “European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet” and other networks, expert groups or advisory groups on addictive behaviors. His work has been supported by the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling and the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Dr Fernández-Aranda has received honoraries as editor in chief from Wiley. Dr Fernández-Aranda and Dr Jiménez-Murcia have received financial support through the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (grant RTI2018-101837-B-100). FIS PI14/00290, FIS PI17/01167 received aid from the Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad. Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas (2017I067 and 2019I47), CIBER Fisiología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn) and CIBER Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), both of which are initiatives of ISCIII. They thank CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya for institutional support. Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) “Una manera de hacer Europa”/“a way to build Europe”. Dr Menchón is supported by the CIBER Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), which is an initiative of ISCIII. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 © 2020 American Society of Addiction Medicine