Most gambling studies have a gender-blind research approach,
although a large body of scientific evidence suggests that gambling
in females is on the rise and that males and females have different
gambling behaviours and experience specific gambling-related
harm. This study addressed these gender differences using a network
analysis, an innovative approach considering disorders/concepts
as dynamic systems of interacting symptoms/items. Data on
gambling activities, problem gambling, substance use and mental
health were collected in a representative sample of French adult
gamblers (n = 8805). The study capitalized on the network analysis
directly to compare associations of specific gambling activities with
gambling disorder symptoms separately for both genders. The network
analysis revealed that problem gambling was strongly associated
with gambling machines among females, whereas it was
related to sports betting, poker and casino games among males.
The networks that included substance use and mental health
showed that substance use was related to specific gambling activities.
These findings confirm the links between various genderspecific
gambling patterns and problem gambling and suggest a
need to consider these gender differences to improve prevention
efforts. More broadly, the present study further supports the importance
of gender differences for gambling research and policy.