In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Government placed society on ‘lockdown’, altering the gambling landscape. This study sought to capture the immediate lockdown-enforced changes in gambling behaviour. UK adults (n = 1028) were recruited online. Gambling behaviour (frequency and weekly expenditure, perceived increase/decrease) was measured using a survey-specific questionnaire. Analyses compared gambling behaviour as a function of pre-lockdown gambling status, measured by the Brief Problem Gambling Scale. In the whole sample, gambling participation decreased between pre- and during-lockdown. Both gambling frequency and weekly expenditure decreased during the first month of lockdown overall, but, the most engaged gamblers did not show a change in gambling behaviour, despite the decrease in opportunity and availability. Individuals whose financial circumstances were negatively affected by lockdown were more likely to perceive an increase in gambling than those whose financial circumstances were not negatively affected. Findings reflect short-term behaviour change; it will be crucial to examine, at future release of lockdown, if behaviour returns to pre-lockdown patterns, or whether new behavioural patterns persist.

为了应对 COVID-19 大流行，英国政府将社会置于“封锁”状态，从而改变了赌博格局。这项研究旨在捕捉赌博行为中因封锁而立即发生的变化。英国成年人 ( n = 1028) 是在线招募的。赌博行为（频率和每周支出，感知的增加/减少）使用调查特定的问卷进行测量。分析比较了赌博行为作为锁定前赌博状态的函数，由简要问题赌博量表测量。在整个样本中，赌博参与度在封锁前和封锁期间有所下降。总体而言，在封锁的第一个月，赌博频率和每周支出均有所下降，但是，尽管机会和可用性有所下降，但参与度最高的赌徒并未表现出赌博行为的变化。财务状况受到封锁负面影响的个人比财务状况未受到负面影响的人更有可能感受到赌博的增加。调查结果反映了短期行为变化；在未来解除封锁时，检查行为是否恢复到封锁前的模式，或者新的行为模式是否持续存在，这一点至关重要。