Logroño, (EFE).- Minors who buy loot boxes, which are random rewards within video games, have twice the risk of betting on the Internet in just half a year, according to the result of an investigation carried out with the participation of 2,213 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17.
The Cyberpsychology research group of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) has led this study, in which the University of the Basque Country and the London University have collaborated, and it is the first and only international study carried out on minors.
The study shows for the first time an association between the purchase of loot boxes and the “online” bet in the following six months, UNIR detailed this Wednesday in a note, which indicates that the results should be taken with “caution”. because it is a first investigation and it is necessary to have more evidence in this regard.
One of the conclusions is that of all the minors who bought a loot box at some point, almost 60% bought them again after six months, so it is a “stable” consumption behavior among this group and “not something eventual”.
The minors who participated in this study, residents of the Valencian Community, and who bought loot boxes at the two moments in which they were consulted showed a significantly higher risk of betting “online” than those who claimed to have purchased them only in the first moment of the consultation or those who indicated that they had not done so at any time.
By gender, boys are the ones who buy the most loot boxes, although girls who acquire these rewards have up to 10 times more risk of betting “online” in just half a year, according to this study, carried out between December 2020 and May 2021.
The principal investigator of the UNIR Cyberpsychology group, Joaquín González-Cabrera, has indicated that, “in general, there is more and more evidence of the relationship between loot boxes and online betting.”