Psychosocial factors behind addiction-a six-wave longitudinal comparison of at-risk gambling and drinking.

Aims: Research indicates that shared and specific underlying factors influence different addictions, sometimes resulting in co-occurring problems. The evidence concerning risk and protective factors for gambling and alcohol addiction, along with their co-occurrence, remains ambiguous. To address this gap, this study will conduct longitudinal research to examine the factors associated with at-risk behaviours over time.

Colliding harms of gambling and gaming: A four-wave longitudinal population study of at-risk gambling and gaming in Finland.

Both gambling and digital gaming are growing in popularity and there is ongoing discussion about their convergence. This population-based longitudinal survey study investigated how gambling and digital gaming types contribute to at-risk gambling and gaming. The study was based on a representative sample of 18-75-year-olds from mainland Finland.

Online communities come with real-world consequences for individuals and societies.

Online communities have become a central part of the internet. Understanding what motivates users to join these communities, and how they affect them and others, spans various psychological domains, including organizational psychology, political and social psychology, and clinical and health psychology. We focus on online communities that are exemplary for three domains: work, hate, and addictions.

The impacts of stress and loneliness on gambling and gaming problems: A nationwide longitudinal study.

Background: Problems related to gambling and digital gaming have been a topic of concern for years. Less attention has been paid to the probable psychosocial factors behind these problems. While previous studies have established links between stress, loneliness, and addiction, there is a lack of longitudinal research investigating how stress and loneliness affect addictive behaviors, including problem gambling and gaming.

Keeping you connected or keeping you addicted? Weekly use of social media platforms is associated with hazardous alcohol use and problem gambling among adults.

Aims: A wide variety of social media platforms exist, each offering tailored solutions to attract specific target audiences based on their social media needs and interests. This diversity may pose a risk factor for the development or perpetuation of harmful behaviors. Research has established a connection between social media use and increased health risk behaviors.

A longitudinal study of gambling motives, problem gambling and need frustration.

Gambling motives are an important element in understanding the development of problem gambling, yet most of the recent studies investigating their role in problem gambling have been cross-sectional. This study analyzed the links between gambling motives and problem gambling using a longitudinal study design. The moderating effect of the frustration of basic psychological needs was also assessed.

COVID-19 Anxiety and Wellbeing at Work in Finland during 2020-2022: A 5-Wave Longitudinal Survey Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted workers globally during 2020-2022 and it has had major psychological implications for workers' wellbeing. This longitudinal study analyzed risk and protective factors predicting COVID-19 anxiety among workers in Finland. Longitudinal national sample of Finnish workers (n = 685) participated in a five-wave study conducted in 2020-2022, covering multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

Escapism and Excessive Online Behaviors: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in Finland during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Excessive online behaviors refer to harmful or disproportionate use of digital network applications. Such behaviors are likely to be associated with escapist motives. Our aim was to analyze whether escapism predicts excessive gambling, excessive gaming, and excessive internet use over time.

Cyberharassment Victimization on Three Continents: An Integrative Approach.

This article introduces and applies an integrative model of cyberharassment victimization. The model combines routine activity theory (RAT), the general theory of crime (GTC), and the personal resources approach to analyze risk factors for victimization while acknowledging the protective role of a sense of mastery. Survey respondents were aged 15 to 25 years ( = 4816) from the U.

Basic psychological needs in gambling and gaming problems.

Background And Aims: Studies on self-determination theory (SDT) have placed satisfaction of basic psychological needs (autonomy, relatedness, and competence) at the core of well-being, whereas frustration of these needs results in multiple potentially unhealthy mental and behavioral patterns. This study analyzed how need satisfaction and frustration relate to the severity of gambling and gaming problems.

Methods: A survey study with 18-75-year-old Finnish participants ( = 1530; 50.

Gambling and gaming during COVID-19: The role of mental health and social motives in gambling and gaming problems.

Background: The uncertain and stressful global situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to cause anxiety and impact people's mental health. Simultaneously, social distancing policies have isolated people from their normal social interactions. These societal changes have inevitably influenced gambling and gaming practices, and many people may have turned to betting or gaming as a means of social exchange.

COVID-19 crisis and digital stressors at work: A longitudinal study on the Finnish working population.

The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus and the associated disease (COVID-19) has changed working conditions due to social-distancing policies. Many workers started to use new technologies at work, including social media applications. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the potential stress effects of social media communication (SMC) at work.

Drinking and Social Media Use Among Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions: Five-Wave Longitudinal Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic restricted everyday life during 2020-2021 for many people worldwide. It also affected alcohol consumption patterns and leisure activities, including the use of social media.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze whether social media use predicts increased risky drinking over time and during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in particular.

Life Satisfaction and Online-Gambling Communities: A Cross-National Study of Gambling Activities Among Young Finnish, American, South Korean and Spanish People.

Gambling is a potential hazard to life satisfaction, yet peer relationships online might buffer this risk. This study analyzed the ways problem gambling is associated with life satisfaction as well as the extent to which the use of online-gambling community participation and, alternatively, offline belonging affect this association. A web-based survey was conducted among people aged 15-25 in Finland (n = 1,200), the United States (n = 1,212), South Korea (n = 1,192), and Spain (n = 1,212).

The Mediating Role of Psychological Distress in Excessive Gambling among Young People: A Four-Country Study.

Background And Aims: Loneliness and a low sense of mastery are associated with excessive gambling, but the underlying processes of these relationships remain unstudied. Because psychological distress can increase vulnerability to excessive gambling, we investigated its mediating role in these relationships among young people. To meet the need for cross-country research, we also observed how these relationships occur in four countries with different cultures.

Online dating applications and risk of youth victimization: A lifestyle exposure perspective.

Based on lifestyle exposure theory (LET), this study examined online dating application (ODA) use and victimization experiences among adolescents using large cross-national samples of Finnish, American, Spanish, and South Korean young people between ages 15 and 18. According to logistic regression analyses in two substudies, ODA use was associated with more likely victimization to online harassment, online sexual harassment, and other cybercrimes and sexual victimization by adults and peers. According to mediation analyses, this relationship was mainly accounted for by the fact that ODA users engage in more risky activities in online communication and information sharing.

Social Ecological Model of Problem Gambling: A Cross-National Survey Study of Young People in the United States, South Korea, Spain, and Finland.

Problem gambling among young people is an emerging trend globally. The online environment in particular offers various possibilities for gambling engagement. This is the first cross-national survey study using the social ecological model to analyze problem gambling, especially in the online context.

COVID-19 Anxiety-A Longitudinal Survey Study of Psychological and Situational Risks among Finnish Workers.

: The COVID-19 crisis has changed the conditions of many all over the globe. One negative consequence of the ongoing pandemic is anxiety brought about by uncertainty and the COVID-19 disease. Increased anxiety is a potential risk factor for wellbeing at work.

Online Peers and Offline Highs: An Examination of Online Peer Groups, Social Media Homophily, and Substance Use.

Research indicates that youths are particularly susceptible to peer influence and that identifying with substance using peer groups predicts substance use. Today, youth spend more time interacting with distal peer groups via the Internet and have increased access to online drug cultures. Theoretically, this should have important implications for substance use.

Situational and Individual Risk Factors for Cybercrime Victimization in a Cross-national Context.

Routine Activity Theory (RAT) and the general theory of crime have been widely employed to understand cybercrime victimization. However, there is a need to integrate these theoretical frameworks to better understand victimization from a cross-national perspective. A web-based survey was conducted among participants aged 15 to 25 years from the U.

Psychological Stressors Predicting Increased Drinking During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Longitudinal National Survey Study of Workers in Finland.

Aims: The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus rapidly increased working remotely in many countries. The aim of this study was to analyze psychological stressors predicting increased drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. Also, individual and socio-demographic differences were analyzed.

Online Relationships and Social Media Interaction in Youth Problem Gambling: A Four-Country Study.

The objective of this study was to examine if belonging to online communities and social media identity bubbles predict youth problem gambling. An online survey was administered to 15-25-year-old participants in the United States ( = 1212), South Korea ( = 1192), Spain ( = 1212), and Finland ( = 1200). The survey measured two dimensions of online behavior: perceived sense of belonging to an online community and involvement in social media identity bubbles.

Impulsivity, internalizing symptoms, and online group behavior as determinants of online hate.

Online hate is widely identified as a social problem, but its social psychological dimensions are yet to be explored. We used an integrative social psychological framework for analyzing online hate offending and found that both personal risk factors and online group behavior were associated with online hate offending. Study 1, based on socio-demographically balanced survey data (N = 1200) collected from Finnish adolescents and young adults, found that impulsivity and internalizing symptoms were positively associated with online hate offending.