GAMBLING AND INTERNET ADDICTION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Since its outbreak in China, COVID-19 has spread worldwide, resulting in an ongoing pandemic. Because of the rapid increase in the number of cases, as well as the wide geographic spread of the disease, many organizations have been forced to switch to remote work and educational institutions to remote learning, which has led to dramatic changes in people's lives. Moreover, these changes can make people more prone to certain mental disorders, such as Internet addiction and gambling addiction. Due to the growing number of publications, the purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the available literature on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Internet and gaming addiction. This paper examined differences in the psychological impact of the COVID-19 period among people from several countries at different stages of the pandemic. The search was conducted in the electronic Scopus database from September 2021 to January 2022. A total of 320 papers were identified, 30 articles were selected based on predetermined eligibility criteria and included in this review. The majority of studies focused on gaming addiction and Internet addiction. Male sex, the younger age group (≤30 years), experienced more severe symptoms of gaming addiction, as reported repeatedly in these studies. The prevalence of Internet and gaming addiction and other psychological disorders among people increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. To fully understand the effects of COVID-19 and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people's levels of Internet and gaming addiction, more research on this topic is needed, as the list of studies is quite limited. The results of this research can be used by the professionals dealing with the problem.