Cryptocurrency trading, mental health and addiction: a qualitative analysis of reddit discussions

IF 1.9 3区医学 Q2 SOCIAL ISSUES

Addiction Research & Theory Pub Date : 2023-02-03 DOI:10.1080/16066359.2023.2174259

Benjamin Johnson, D. Stjepanović, J. Leung, Tianze Sun, Gary C K Chan

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引用次数: 5

Abstract

Abstract Background: The volatility and 24/7 nature of the cryptocurrency market allows traders to engage in highly speculative trading patterns that closely resemble gambling. Considering its potential for addiction and economic loss, it is important to investigate the impact that cryptocurrency trading has on mental health. Therefore, we analyzed Reddit discussions regarding mental health, gambling, and addiction from members of the discussion board, r/cryptocurrency, during a recent downturn in the market. Method: We collected 1315 threads submitted to the subreddit r/cryptocurrency from January 3rd to February 4th 2022. A thematic analysis was employed, which included threads that discussed psychological wellbeing, mental health or gambling. Results: We thematically analyzed the content threads that discussed psychological wellbeing, mental health or gambling. Our analysis identified three main themes present in user discussion. Theme 1 (emotional state and mental health) captured users’ discussion on their wellbeing, mental health and emotional responses to the market downturn. Theme 2 (strategies for coping) examined coping strategies recommended by users to combat distress or trading urges. Theme 3 (likeness to gambling) captured a discussion on the relationship between cryptocurrency and gambling based on its fixating properties and risk profile. Conclusions: Reddit is a valuable resource for examining the experiences and attitudes of the cryptocurrency community. Discussion from users provided insight into the mental distress market downturns cause and strategies to help combat these. Our findings offer qualitative insights into the problems experienced by individuals who cryptocurrency trade and encourage further investigation into its relationship with mental health and addiction.

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加密货币交易、心理健康和成瘾:对reddit讨论的定性分析

背景:加密货币市场的波动性和24/7的性质使交易者能够从事与赌博非常相似的高度投机交易模式。考虑到其潜在的成瘾和经济损失，调查加密货币交易对心理健康的影响是很重要的。因此，我们分析了Reddit讨论板r/cryptocurrency成员在最近市场低迷期间关于心理健康，赌博和成瘾的讨论。方法:我们收集了从2022年1月3日到2月4日提交到reddit r/cryptocurrency的1315个线程。采用了主题分析，其中包括讨论心理健康、心理健康或赌博的主题。结果:我们对讨论心理健康、心理健康或赌博的内容线程进行了主题分析。我们的分析确定了用户讨论中的三个主要主题。主题1(情绪状态和心理健康)收集了用户对他们的幸福感、心理健康和对市场低迷的情绪反应的讨论。主题2(应对策略)审查了用户建议的应对策略，以对抗痛苦或交易冲动。主题3(与赌博相似)根据其固定属性和风险概况，讨论了加密货币与赌博之间的关系。结论:Reddit是研究加密货币社区经验和态度的宝贵资源。用户的讨论提供了对市场低迷的心理困扰原因和帮助对抗这些问题的策略的见解。我们的研究结果为加密货币交易的个人所遇到的问题提供了定性的见解，并鼓励进一步调查其与心理健康和成瘾的关系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Addiction Research & Theory Multiple-

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

6.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Since being founded in 1993, Addiction Research and Theory has been the leading outlet for research and theoretical contributions that view addictive behaviour as arising from psychological processes within the individual and the social context in which the behaviour takes place as much as from the biological effects of the psychoactive substance or activity involved. This cross-disciplinary journal examines addictive behaviours from a variety of perspectives and methods of inquiry. Disciplines represented in the journal include Anthropology, Economics, Epidemiology, Medicine, Sociology, Psychology and History, but high quality contributions from other relevant areas will also be considered.