The article provides an overview of the results of scientific research published in publications indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus databases and on the Google Scholar portal. These studies reflect key trends in the development of social and legal policies in various countries of the world. The review of scientific works is organized both on a problem-thematic basis, taking into account the focus and conceptual foundations of research, and on a territorial basis. The authors do not claim the exhaustive nature of the generalization, given the dynamic and continuously developing nature of the study of the impact of gambling dependence on the life of societies. The main task of the proposed review is to identify the key directions and conceptual foundations of the study of this problem, as well as to justify the need and significance of such studies for Kazakhstan.