Retention and Relapse in Gambling Self-help Communities on Reddit

Problem gambling endangers the mental health and financial stability of those affected. Individuals who are trying to overcome this problematic behavior often seek support in self-help groups, whether offline or online. Although online gambling self-help groups have become increasingly prominent in recent years, research is still needed to fully understand the social interactions and effectiveness of this medium. In this paper, we analyze behavior of problem gamblers in two gambling self-help communities on Reddit. In particular, following social impact theory, we quantify the strength, frequency, and promptness of users’ social interactions and measure their effects on problem gamblers’ retention in the community, as well as on their relapse to gambling. Firstly, we find that the magnitude of the community response, and a higher response from users who currently sustain prolonged gambling-free periods are positively associated with retention in the community. Secondly, our relapse analysis indicates that users who engage more strongly in discussions following their own submissions have a lower risk of gambling relapse. We believe that our findings provide useful insights on how to improve support for problem gamblers in online self-help communities.