By Messerlian, C., Gupta, R. & Derevensky, J. for McGill University
Today’s children and teenagers are the first generation of North American youth to live in a society where gambling opportunities are easily accessible both in local venues and on the Internet, and where gambling games are as popular as the newest television show. The gambling industry has burgeoned over the last two decades to a multi-billion dollar business with revenues surpassing the entire entertainment industry. The unfortunate reality is that governments around the world have become highly dependent on this new, growing source of revenue. These and other factors have resulted in many more gambling opportunities available today than ever before. Adolescents are regularly exposed to not only different forms of state-operated gambling including lotteries, scratch-tickets, and electronic-gambling machines, but also to unregulated forms such as poker games and tournaments, gambling on the Internet, and sports pools at home and in school. As the popularity of gambling has increased over the years, so too has the number of adolescents participating in gambling. In fact, studies in the United States indicate that the majority of teens (60-80%) have gambled at least once in the past year (National Research Council, 1999, Shaffer & Hall, 1996). This occurrence has raised concern among mental health professionals, teachers, counselors, and parents regarding the risks involved in adolescent gambling.
Problem Gambling Among Youth
Gambling behavior can best be understood and measured along a continuum of risk, ranging from non-gambling and social gambling on one end to unhealthy and problem/pathological gambling on the other. The majority of youth who gamble do not experience any adverse or negative consequences as a result of their participation. For others, gambling leads to a loss of control over their level of playing, an inability to stop despite repeated efforts to do so, and failure to set and maintain reasonable spending limits.
Pathological gambling is defined as a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling and is highlighted by irrational thinking and erroneous cognitions, a preoccupation with gambling and with obtaining money to gamble, continuation with gambling despite adverse consequences, and an inability to stop gambling despite having the desire to do so (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Approximately 4-6% of adolescents become over-involved in gambling activities and these youth are likely to develop significant gambling-related problems or pathological gambling. Another 10-15% of adolescents are considered at-risk for developing a gambling problem (Derevensky & Gupta, 2004). The National Research Council (1999) recently concluded that adolescents represent a high-risk group for gambling problems and that the pathological gambling rates among adolescents could be three times that reported by adults.
The three principal reasons for gambling reported by youth are enjoyment, excitement and to make money. Equally concerning is the finding that adolescents with serious gambling-related problems report beginning gambling in late childhood (approximately 10 years of age), often beginning gambling for money with their parents and other family members. While research in this area is still in its infancy, more efforts to respond to this growing concern through education and prevention are needed.
Risks Factors and Correlates of Problem Gambling
Youth gambling is a high-risk behavior, not unlike alcohol use, substance use, tobacco use and risky sexual activity. In the developmental course, adolescents are susceptible to engaging in multiple high-risk behaviors. However, in doing so, many teens underestimate the potential for negative consequences. Research has identified a number of risk factors for the development of gambling problems among teens (see Derevensky & Gupta, 2004 for complete review) including:
Gender
Boys report more gambling involvement and gambling problems.
Early age of onset
Problem gamblers report having started gambling at a young age (approximately age 10).
Personality
Adolescent problem gamblers are more excitable, anxious, and impulsive, and report lower self-esteem.
Family history
Teens with gambling problems often have parents who gamble and/or who have gambling problems.
Poor coping skills
These youth report gambling as a means to escape problems, relieve stress, and have poor coping skills in general.
Lack of family/social support
Adolescent problem gamblers report poor family connectedness and low perceived social support.
Learning disabilities
Learning problems are more common among young problem gamblers.
Attitudes
Adolescents at-risk for gambling problems have positive attitudes towards gambling and seek out gambling for excitement, the relief of boredom, and as a way to socialize.
Research has furthermore pointed to the elevated risk for poor mental health outcomes among youth who gamble excessively. Of serious concern, adolescent problem gamblers exhibit higher rates of depressive symptomology, are more likely to report suicide ideation and attempts, report higher anxiety (Gupta & Derevensky, 1998), and are at an increased risk of alcohol and substance abuse disorders (Hardoon, Derevensky & Gupta, 2002; Winters & Anderson, 2000). In addition, there are a multitude of negative behavioral, psychological, interpersonal, and academic problems associated with problem gambling. Among youth, problem gambling has been shown to result in increased delinquency and criminal behavior, poor academic performance, higher rates of school truancy and dropout, and disrupted familial and peer relationships (Derevensky & Gupta, 2004; Hardoon et al., 2002). Such negative outcomes have short- and long-term implications for the individual, for their friends and family, as well as for society at large. To date, few public awareness strategies and effective social policies have been initiated to address this public health concern.
Slippery slope
What tends to make gambling different from other activities that pose a risk to one’s wellbeing is the fact that most youth are unaware that they can potentially develop a problem if they gamble regularly or to excess. Unlike excessive alcohol use and dependency and drug abuse, problem gambling is rarely discussed and therefore not in the forefront of the minds of young people when they play. Most adolescents who find themselves struggling with a gambling problem acknowledge that they knew that tobacco, alcohol and drugs were potentially addictive, but they were unaware that gambling could become problematic as well, until it was too late. Most teens start gambling with friends as a safe, fun and exciting way to pass time. Poker games and sports pools are just two examples. For most, these activities remain harmless forms of entertainment, but for others it can represent the beginning of a very pervasive problem. It is relatively easy for teens to get carried away with such activities, as the “decision” process while playing allows them to develop what experts depict as an illusion of control. Deciding what cards to hold or drop when playing poker, or deciding what sports teams or players to bet on can lead them to perceive they have more control over the outcomes of such activities than they do.
The Role of Professionals and Parents
Underage gambling is an emerging social, psychological, health and educational issue that should concern educators, health professionals, parents and the general public. Each has a responsibility to become informed on new trends in gambling and its technology, the implicated risks, and the signs of potential problems. Parents and professionals have a role to play in monitoring and regulating gambling behavior in teens both in schools and at home. While some level of gambling could be considered a safe and entertaining way to spend time, parents need to be aware of the risks involved, and should be vigilant in monitoring and ensuring their children’s behavior does not exceed that of healthy gambling practices. Speaking to their children about the potential risks, teaching them how to play responsibly by setting money and time limits, and closely monitoring their behavior can go a long way to preventing problems. Parents should also be mindful not to glamorize their own gambling experiences, but rather set the example of responsible behavior. With respect to professionals, educators and school personnel, it is important to become aware of the types gambling activities youth are engaging in on school grounds. They should become aware of the not-so-obvious ways in which they may be fostering the acceptability or normalization of gambling in their schools through a lack of policy regarding gambling on school grounds, organizing sports pools for students, and holding casino or bingo nights as fundraisers, for instance. While gambling on the surface looks like an innocuous behavior, excessive gambling is accompanied by a myriad of negative social, personal, and financial problems.
Professionals should be aware of the many warning signs and behavioral patterns that may be indicative of a problem. Generally, youth who exhibit some or all of the following behaviors should be considered for further assessment and referral.
Teens may have a gambling problem if they:
- Spend lengthy amounts of time gambling;
- Gamble to win back money previously lost;
- Play in hopes for a “big win”;
- Attempt or promise to cut back on gambling;
- Talk excessively about gambling and brag about winning;
- Refuse to explain their behavior or lie about their gambling;
- Prefer gambling to other activities;
- Carry excessive amounts of cash;
- Have school-related problems (missing class and declining grades); and/or
- Borrow or steal money and can’t remember what the money was spent on.
While it is important to remember that some of these warning signs may be indicative of other problems, parents and professionals would be well advised to monitor the adolescent’s gambling behavior.
Future Directions
The convenience of adolescents being able to organize gambling activities amongst themselves, the widespread acceptability and normalization of gambling within our society, the relatively easy access to several forms of legalized and non-legalized gambling, and the negative consequences associated with excessive gambling makes this a particularly important social policy issue concerning our youth. Governments, the gambling industry, and the public share a responsibility to protect our youth from potentially harmful products and practices. Public policy has a duty to reflect the changing social climate and aim to protect youth from access and exposure to gambling products and promotions. More should be done to limit the expansion of the gambling industry within our communities; we need to strictly enforce age prohibitions; there is a need to limit the availability of types of games and restricting the hours of operation of casinos and electronic gaming sites; and considerable improvement needs to be made in the regulation of gambling advertisements.
Our governments strongly promote education to our youth as a means to achieve success, happiness, and financial security while simultaneously promoting the lottery as an alternative means to achieve the same end.
Health professionals and those working with youth need to have access to more training and resources which would equip them to respond to these new and emerging behavioral trends among adolescents. The ever-so-quickly growing trend of card games, especially poker, is a perfect example of a phenomenon/epidemic that is not being properly addressed as few parents and school officials realize the potential negative consequences associated with this behavior.
Future research is needed to better understand the risk and protective factors related to problem gambling so that effective prevention strategies can be developed and implemented. Raising public awareness will only serve to better prepare parents and educators to respond to current and future issues concerning gambling problems among our youth. Similar to other potentially risky behaviors we have an obligation to help protect our children. They deserve nothing less. Gambling amongst youth remains an important social policy concern that deserves our immediate attention.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.-Revised). Washington, D.C.: Author.
Derevensky, J., & Gupta, R. (Eds.) (2004). Gambling problems in youth: Theoretical and applied perspectives. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J. (1998) Adolescent gambling behaviour: A prevalence study and examination of the correlates associated with excessive gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 14, 319-345.
Hardoon, K., Derevensky, J., & Gupta, R., (2002). An examination of the influence of familial, emotional, conduct and cognitive problems, and hyperactivity upon youth risk-taking and adolescent gambling problems. Report prepared for the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, Ontario, 113 pp.
National Research Council (1999) Pathological gambling: A critical review. Washington, DC.: National Academy Press.
Shaffer, H. J. & Hall, M. M. (1996). Estimating the prevalence of adolescent gambling disorders: A quantitative synthesis and guide toward standard gambling nomenclature. Journal of Gambling Studies, 12, 193-214.
Winters, K. C., & Anderson, N. (2000). Gambling involvement and drug use among adolescents. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16, 175-198.
The National Family Partnership's Red Ribbon Campaign, October 23-31, is a time to bring people together and make the drug-free message visible. The Red Ribbon Campaign, conducted annually since 1985 through local and nationwide volunteers, has made October a time to reinforce and introduce students throughout the country to the simple realization that they can choose to grow up drug-free. 
