Legalized Online Sports Betting Linked to More Depression and Anxiety Treatment, Study Finds
A Johns Hopkins study of insurance claims from 2016 to 2023 found that states which legalized online sports betting saw a roughly 5% rise in prescriptions for antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, and a 5% to 7% rise in depression and anxiety diagnoses.
States that legalized online sports betting saw a rise in the use of depression and anxiety medications, along with more outpatient diagnoses of the two conditions, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University.
The study, published Oct. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry, examined employer-sponsored health insurance claims from January 2016 through December 2023. The researchers compared claims in states that legalized online sports betting with those in states that did not.
After legalization, filled prescriptions for antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications rose by roughly 5% among adults ages 18 to 64 with employer-sponsored coverage, the researchers found. Outpatient diagnoses of depression and anxiety rose by 5% to 7%.
Men showed the largest increases
The increases were concentrated among men, who make up most sports bettors. The likelihood of a depression diagnosis rose 6.73% for men, compared with 5.47% for women; the likelihood of antidepressant use rose 5.44% for men, compared with 5% for women. The pattern held for anxiety diagnoses: up 7.2% for men and 6.5% for women. The only measure where women saw a larger increase was anti-anxiety drug use, which rose 5.17% for women and 4.99% for men.
The study found no significant increase in the likelihood of a substance use disorder diagnosis or in depression and anxiety cases seen in emergency room visits.
Doctors warned of effects beyond money
The study does not prove that legalizing sports betting caused the increases, and the insurance data does not show whether the people treated actually placed bets. Senior author Mark Meiselbach, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, said he hopes the findings raise awareness among psychiatrists, primary care doctors, and bettors themselves “that these online apps can lead to harms beyond financial risks.”
Danielle Piatkowsky, a licensed social worker at Northwell Zucker Hillside Hospital who was not involved in the research, said gambling problems reach into family relationships, friendships, and work or school life. “Problem gambling is really a public health issue,” she said.
Online sports betting became legal in most states after a 2018 Supreme Court ruling and is now legal in 31 states and Washington, D.C. Separately, research from EPIC Research has found that diagnoses of gambling disorder in the U.S. rose more than 60% since 2018.
Reporting based on coverage by Western Morning News and Medical Xpress.
