This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the strength of associations between gambling motives and problem gambling severity. Despite previous reviews highlighting the importance of gambling motives, none have synthesized evidence across all validated measures and sample types. A systematic search of peer-reviewed literature (1993-2025) identified 63 studies (66 articles), with 53 studies (54 articles) included in meta-analyses of 15 validated motives subscales. With the exception of th