Sleep & Gambling in Early Life
Understanding the links between sleep & gambling in the digital age
Gambling is increasingly recognised as a public health issue with the potential to negatively impact mental health, relationships, and financial stability. With sleep being important for decision making, impulsivity, and reward processing, this study considers it’s role in shaping gambling risk, focusing on adolescents and young adults growing up with the new world of digital gambling exposures.
Context
Therefore, this project aims to look at the relationship between gambling and sleep during adolescence and young adulthood through a systematic review of the literature.
Findings
This systematic review of the literature on the subject spanned…
Studies
Participants aged
10-24
… and all looked at how poor sleep could impact gambling behaviours.
Findings were categorised in two categories:
1
Sleep’s effect on gambling behaviours and gambling disorder symptoms & severity.
2
Sleep’s effect on decision making and risk behaviours.
Gambling Behaviours & Symptoms
Decision Making & Risk Taking
Take-Home Messages
Research Implications
Greater attention should be paid to the risk factors and effects of digital gambling. Also, more studies are needed on the effect of gambling on sleep patterns to explore their potential bidirectional relationship.
Policy Action
Policy makers need to consider how commercial and digital environments are contributing to sleep disturbance and gambling behaviours amongst young people.
Medical Practice
Implications
Sleep should be recognised as a modifiable risk factor in gambling prevention and harm reduction.
Programme Resources
Funding
This programme was made possible through collaborations with Gambling Harms Research UK, the University of St Andrews, the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research & Policy (SCPHRP) and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.
