{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T12:06:19Z","timestamp":1791547579837,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,22]],"date-time":"2022-02-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1645488000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008625","name":"GambleAware","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008625","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Addiction"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background and Aims<\/jats:title><jats:p>Loot boxes are purchasable randomised rewards in video games that share structural and psychological similarities with gambling. Systematic review evidence has established reproducible associations between loot box purchasing and both problem gambling and problem video gaming. We aimed to measure the association between loot box engagement and socioeconomic correlates.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study was a cross\u2010sectional online survey using the recruitment platform, Prolific.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title><jats:p>United Kingdom (UK).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title><jats:p>A cohort of 16\u2009196 UK adults (18\u2009+\u2009years) self\u2010reporting as video gamers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Measurements<\/jats:title><jats:p>Respondents were asked about their game\u2010related purchasing behaviour (including loot boxes), recent monthly spend on loot boxes and gambling engagement (gambling in any form; gambling online; playing \u2018social casino\u2019 games). A range of demographic variables were simultaneously captured, including age, sex, ethnicity, earnings, employment and educational attainment.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Overall, 17.16% of gamers in our cohort purchased loot boxes, with a mean self\u2010reported monthly spend of \u00a329.12. These loot box purchasers are more likely to gamble (45.97% gamble) than people who make other types of game\u2010related purchases (on aggregate, 28.13% of non\u2010loot box purchasers gamble), and even greater still than those who do not make any game related purchases (24.38% gamble<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). Loot box engagement (as binary yes\/no or as monthly spend normalised to earnings) was significantly associated with younger age (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001 and<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001; respectively, for binary yes\/no and monthly spend, adjusted for false discovery rate correction), male sex (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001 and<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.025), non\u2010university educational attainment (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001 and<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001) and unemployment (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.003 and<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009&lt; 0.001). Lower earners spent a higher proportion of monthly earnings on loot boxes (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>The demographic associations of video game loot box engagement (younger age, male sex, non\u2010university educational attainment and unemployment) mirror those of other addictive and problematic behaviours, including disordered gambling, drug and alcohol misuse.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/add.15837","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,7]],"date-time":"2022-02-07T10:16:05Z","timestamp":1644228965000},"page":"2338-2345","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Loot box engagement: relationships with educational attainment, employment status and earnings in a cohort of 16\u2009000 United Kingdom gamers"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"117","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9316-034X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James","family":"Close","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology University of Plymouth Plymouth Devon UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7585-8886","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stuart Gordon","family":"Spicer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Community and Primary Care Research Group University of Plymouth Plymouth Devon UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6195-9501","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura Louise","family":"Nicklin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Education, Faculty of Education, Health &amp; Wellbeing University of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3891-7247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joanne","family":"Lloyd","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cyberpsychology Research Group, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing University of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2916-1874","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helen","family":"Lloyd","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Associate Professor in Psychology Plymouth Devon UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/add.14973"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","article-title":"Lifting the lid on loot boxes: Chance\u2010based purchases in video games and the convergence of gaming and gambling","author":"Close J","year":"2021","journal-title":"Gamble Aware"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-018-0360-1"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14459795.2021.1914705"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/14614448211027175"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10102103"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addbeh.2021.106851"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"ZendleD MeyerR WatersS CairnsP.The prevalence of loot boxes means that content descriptors are just as important as limit setting when it comes to minimising potential harm: A reply to Drummond et al. 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