{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T02:34:17Z","timestamp":1768530857382,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,15]],"date-time":"2020-11-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1605398400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014013","name":"UK Research and Innovation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ES\/V004549\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ES\/V004549\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014013","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented restrictions on people\u2019s movements and interactions, as well as the cancellation of major sports events and social activities, directly altering the gambling landscape. There is urgent need to provide regulators, policy makers and treatment providers with evidence on the patterns and context of gambling during COVID-19 and its aftermath. This protocol describes a study addressing the following three questions: (1) How has COVID-19 changed gambling practices and the risk factors for, and experience of, gambling harms? (2) What is the effect of COVID-19 on gambling marketing? (3) How has COVID-19 changed high risk groups\u2019 gambling experiences and practices? This mixed-method study focuses on two groups, namely young adults and sports bettors. In workpackage-1, we will extend an existing longitudinal survey of gambling in young adults (aged 16\u201324 years) (first wave conducted June\u2013August 2019), adding COVID-19-related questions to the second wave (July\u2013August 2020) and extending to a third wave in 2021; and undertake a survey of sports bettors in the UK (baseline n = 4000, ~July\u2013August 2020), with follow-ups in ~October\u2013November 2020 and ~February-March 2021. In workpackage-2, we will examine changes in expenditure on paid-for gambling advertising from January 2019 to July 2021 and undertake a mixed-method content analysis of a random sample of paid-for gambling advertising (n ~ 200) and social media marketing (n ~ 100) during the initial COVID-19 \u201clockdown\u201d. Workpackage-3 will involve qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of (a) young adults (aged 18\u201324 years) and (b) sports bettors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17228449","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,16]],"date-time":"2020-11-16T11:04:20Z","timestamp":1605524660000},"page":"8449","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Protocol for a Mixed-Method Investigation of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Gambling Practices, Experiences and Marketing in the UK: The \u201cBetting and Gaming COVID-19 Impact Study\u201d"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5873-3632","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kate","family":"Hunt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9145-8874","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nathan","family":"Critchlow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ashley","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher","family":"Bunn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8294-8203","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fiona","family":"Dobbie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1637-3138","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Craig","family":"Donnachie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cindy M.","family":"Gray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6527-0218","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard","family":"Purves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gerda","family":"Reith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martine","family":"Stead","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danielle","family":"Mitchell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1361-3706","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heather","family":"Wardle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1159\/000437260","article-title":"Problem Gambling in the UK: Implications for Health, Psychosocial Adjustment and Health Care Utilization","volume":"22","author":"Cowlishaw","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eur. 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