Engagement with sports betting goes hand in hand with higher rates and greater severity of problem gambling, according to a systematic review.

The study finds sports betting is now a highly profitable and widely normalised activity worldwide, with marketing and promotion likely motivating sports bettors to gamble.

The review from the University of Sydney’s Gambling Treatment and Research Centre and the University of Nevada, US looked at psychosocial behaviours and marketing of sports betting, based on an analysis of 65 studies across Australia, the US, the UK, Europe and Asia.

Twelve of the studies examined behaviours associated with sports betting, finding participants tended to be young and impulsive, and have poorer self-control and problematic alcohol use.