Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of illegal internet gambling behavior on the relationship between speculative experience in internet games and gambling problem, and to confirm the moderating effect of exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk on the relationship between speculative experience in internet games and illegal internet gambling behavior. For this purpose, data from 733 adults who regularly performed illegal gambling, collected through online survey companies, were used. As a result, illegal internet gambling behavior was found to mediate the relationship between speculative experience in internet games and gambling problems. and the moderated mediating effect of exposure to COVID-19 risk on the relationship between speculative experience in internet games and illegal internet gambling behavior was confirmed. In other words, the higher the exposure to COVID-19 risk, the stronger the effect on the relationship between speculative experience in internet games and illegal internet gambling behavior, which was found to affect gambling problems. Based on the research results, the significance of this study was discussed and follow-up studies were suggested.