ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Addictive Behaviors
This article is part of the Research TopicExpanding Harm Reduction: A New Frontier in Behavioral Addiction TreatmentView all articles
Research on the Influence Mechanism of Social Risk Perception on Addictive Behavior Among Sports Lottery Gamblers: The Moderating Effect of Social Support
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China
- 2South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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Introduction: Against the backdrop of rapid social transformation, emerging social issues have heightened public uncertainty and risk perception. In this context, the consumption of China’s sports lottery has expanded rapidly. While this growth benefits sports development and public welfare funding, it has also raised concerns about gambling addiction and associated psychosocial problems. Grounded in social cognitive theory, this study investigates the mechanism through which social risk perception influences sports lottery gambling addiction, and examines the moderating role of social support. The aim is to provide theoretical insights for policy interventions and the promotion of responsible gambling behavior. Methods: A survey was conducted with 362 Chinese sports lottery consumers. Data validity and reliability were assessed using SPSS 25.0. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to test the relationships among the variables. Results: Results indicate that social risk perception significantly and positively predicts sports lottery gambling addiction. Moreover, social support significantly moderates this relationship, such that higher levels of social support weaken the positive impact of social risk perception on addictive behaviors. Discussion: The findings highlight the complex role of psychosocial factors in addictive behaviors and provide a theoretical basis for targeted interventions. Strengthening social support networks and improving policy design may reduce social risk perception, thereby preventing and mitigating gambling addiction among lottery players. These results underscore the practical value of social support in public health policy.
Keywords: behavioral addiction, Lottery gamblers, Moderating effect, Perceived social risk, social support
Received: 12 Sep 2025; Accepted: 04 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Liu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Feng Wang
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