Table 2 Main characteristics of the included studies (n = 55)
From: The Role of Virtual Communities in Gambling and Gaming Behaviors: A Systematic Review
| References | Method | Type of the study | n | Age | Female, % | Focus | Type of the virtual community |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badrinarayanan et al. (2014) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 970 | < 15–43+ | 15.0% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Badrinarayanan et al. (2015) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 970 | < 15–43+ | 15.0% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Ben-Ur et al. (2015) | Mixed | Multimethod | 1695 | N/A | N/A | Gaming | MMORPG; game forum |
| Blackburn et al. (2014) | Quantit. | Longitudinal | > 12 million | N/A | N/A | Gaming | Game community |
| Canossa et al. (2019) | Quantit. | Longitudinal | Multiple data | N/A | N/A | Gaming | In-game community |
| Caputo (2015) | Mixed | Content analytic | 24 | Adults | 12.5% | Gambl. | PG forum |
| Chang et al. (2014) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 166 | < 19–40+ | 44.0% | Gaming | Game networks |
| Deans et al. (2017) | Qualit. | Interview | 50 | 20–37 | 0.0% | Gambl. | SNS sites |
| Fang et al. (2009) | Mixed | Multimethod | 33 | Multiple data | Multiple data | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Gainsbury et al. (2015) | Qualit. | Interview | 10 | 20–65+ | 40.0% | Both | SNS sites/in-game interaction |
| Ghazali et al. (2019) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 362 | < 18–45+ | 38.7% | Gaming | Game community |
| Gong et al. (2019) | Quantit. | Longitudinal | 410 | < 20–40+ | 29.0% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Goodfellow (2015) | Qualit. | Multimethod | 75 | N/A | N/A | Gaming | Game forums; in-game community |
| Griffiths and Light (2008) | Qualit. | Field study | N/A | N/A | N/A | Gaming | In-game community |
| Gui (2018) | Qualit. | Ethnographic | 190 | N/A | N/A | Gaming | Game forum; MMORPG |
| Hickerson and Mowen (2012) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 141 | 12–38 | 1.0% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Hing et al. (2015) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 620 | Mean age 37.6 | 20.2% | Gambl. | PG forum/support group |
| Hota and Derbaix (2016) | Qualit. | Interview | 20 | 8–12 | 50.0% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Howe et al. (2019) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 3361 | 18–88 | 52.0% | Gambl. | Discussion boards |
| Hsieh and Tseng (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 605 | < 20–39 | 18.0% | Gaming | Online social groups |
| Hsu and Lu (2007) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 356 | Majority < 25 | 24.0% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Huang et al. (2012) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 850 | Majority < 24 | About 33.3% | Gaming | Game forum |
| Huang et al. (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 2212 | 18–55 | 15.6% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Järvinen-Tassopoulos (2016) | Qualit. | Content analytic | 48 | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | PG forum |
| Jin et al. (2017) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 214 | < 21–36+ | 8.4% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Kaptein et al. (2015) | Quantit. | Longitudinal | Multiple data | Multiple data | Multiple data | Both | Gambling/gaming forum |
| Khazaal et al. (2017) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 372 | 19–61 | 9.0% | Gambl. | In-game interaction |
| Y. B. Kim et al. (2015) | Quantit. | Sentiment analytic | Multiple data | N/A | N/A | Gaming | Game forum |
| Y. B. Kim et al. (2017 ) | Quantit. | Sentiment analytic | 2,931,748 | N/A | N/A | Gaming | Game forum |
| M. Kim and J. Kim (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 348 | 10–40+ | 14.4% | Gaming | Game community |
| King et al. (2020) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 428 | 18–60+ | 6.5% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Lee et al. (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 320 | < 20–30+ | 37.5% | Both | Online social networks |
| Lehdonvirta (2009) | Qualit. | Exploratory | N/A | N/A | N/A | Gaming | In-game community |
| Liao et al. (2012) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 280 | < 12–49+ | 19.6% | Gaming | Game community |
| Lin et al. (2008) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 501 | N/A | 32.0% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Lindholm et al. (2012) | Quantit. | Longitudinal | 4475 | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | Poker community |
| McGowan (2003) | Qualit. | Discourse analytic | N/A | N/A | 100.0% | Gambl. | PG forum/support group |
| Mudry and Strong (2013) | Qualit. | Ethnographic | 1791 | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | PG forum |
| O’Leary and Carroll (2013) | Qualit. | Ethnographic | N/A | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | Poker forum |
| Park et al. (2018) | Quantit. | Longitudinal | 4645 | N/A | N/A | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Parke and Griffiths (2011) | Qualit. | Ethnographic | 271 | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | Poker community |
| Pinto et al. (2015) | Qualit. | Multimethod | Multiple data | 15–26 | 0.0% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Rantala and Sulkunen (2012) | Qualit. | Content analytic | 487 | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | PG forum |
| Rapp (2018) | Qualit. | Ethnographic | Multiple data | Multiple data | Multiple data | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Rodda et al. (2018) | Mixed | Content analytic | 1370 | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | PG forum |
| Schüll (2016) | Qualit. | Multimethod | Multiple data | N/A | N/A | Gambl. | Poker forum; in-game interaction |
| Shukla and Drennan (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 358 | 18–35+ | 36.3% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Sierra et al. (2016) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 970 | < 15–43+ | 15.0% | Gaming | MMORPG |
| Sirola et al. (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 1200 | 15–25 | 50.0% | Gambl. | Gambling forums (PG and other) |
| Sirola et al. (2019) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | Multiple data | 15–30 | Multiple data | Gambl. | Gambling forums (PG and other) |
| Smith et al. (2012) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 194 | 18–51+ | 2.6% | Gambl. | In-game interaction |
| Vella et al. (2019) | Qualitat. | Interview | 36 | 19–30 | 30.56% | Gaming | In-game community |
| Wen et al. (2016) | Quantit. | Prototyping development | 277 | 18–40+ | 36.46% | Gambl. | SNS sports betting community |
| Wood and Wood (2009) | Mixed | Multimethod | Multiple data | Multiple data | Multiple data | Gambl. | PG forum |
| Zhang et al. (2018) | Quantit. | Cross-sectional | 2753 | N/A | N/A | Gaming | Game community |