Online gambling has grown into a global social and economic phenomenon. It is, however, regarded as a risky practice, as it may be connected to the development of gambling-related disorders. Literature has shown a growing interest to determine the direction of the relationship between online gambling participation and gambling-related harm, as it raises some endogeneity concerns. This paper aims to contribute to the study of this relationship. Using data from the prevalence study of gambling users in Spain, a two-stage approach with instrumental variables is proposed to address these endogeneity concerns. An ordered probit model is then estimated to explore the correlation between online gambling participation, the intensity of participation, and the risk of developing some kind of gambling-related harm. Findings showed that online gambling had a significant impact on the odds of experiencing a gambling disorder, which worsened as online gambling participation increased.

中文翻译：

---

在线赌博相关危害：西班牙赌徒的流行，行为和特征研究的结果

在线赌博已经发展成为一种全球性的社会和经济现象。但是，由于可能与赌博相关疾病的发展有关，因此被视为冒险行为。由于越来越引起人们对内生性的关注，文献显示出越来越高的兴趣来确定在线赌博参与与赌博相关伤害之间关系的方向。本文旨在为这种关系的研究做出贡献。利用来自西班牙赌博用户普遍性研究的数据，提出了一种使用工具变量的两阶段方法来解决这些内生性问题。然后估计一个有序的概率模型，以探索在线赌博参与，参与强度和发展某种与赌博相关的危害的风险之间的相关性。