More Youths than Adults Gamble Pathologically

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PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING MORE PREVALENT
AMONG YOUTHS THAN ADULTS, STUDY FINDS

May Be More Addictive Than Alcohol, Smoking and Drugs: Some Youth
Gamble for Reasons Unrelated to Winning Money

SAN FRANCISCO -- Between five and eight percent of young Americans
and Canadians have a serious gambling problem (compared with one to
three percent of adults). That is according to research conducted over
the last five years and presented at the 106th Annual Convention of
the American Psychological Association in San Francisco, August 14
-18. The research also shows that adolescents may become more addicted
to gambling than they are to alcohol, smoking and drugs and sometimes
gamble for reasons other than winning money.

While the research shows that most youth gamble only occasionally,
a minority of them starts gambling on a regular basis and then becomes
pathologically involved. Boys get involved with gambling more than
girls; older youths gamble more than younger ones; youths from ethnic
minorities gamble more than Whites. Children can start gambling as
early as grade school (11 years of age) and usually sustain their
level of gambling over a number of years.

Antisocial behavior, being male and frequent alcohol use seemed to
increase the likelihood of the frequency of gambling, according to the
research. There also appears to be some evidence that prevention
efforts used to prevent adolescent drug use can also be used to curb
problem gambling behavior, said psychologist Randy Stinchfield, Ph.D.,
and colleagues of the University of Minnesota.

One of the largest studies to examine gambling rates among youths
was a statewide survey of Minnesota public school students (6th, 9th
and 12th graders), conducted by Dr. Stinchfield, one of the gambling
researchers. The survey assessed how much these youths were at risk
for developing alcohol, drug and/or gambling problems. The survey was
given in 1992 to 122,700 students and then again to 75,900 students in
1995. The survey also examined if gambling was related to alcohol and
drug use.

"One of the main findings from this study," said Dr. Stinchfield,
"was that gambling frequency did not increase among most of those
students during the three-year period. The rates of gambling and
problem gambling did not change. The only changes that were measured
were that gamblers' preferences shifted away from informal games to
legalized games, especially for those reaching the legal age for
gambling. And those that appeared to be over-involved in gambling did
end up increasing their gambling over the time period."

"The majority of students gambled at least once during the past
year (80 percent of boys and 50 percent of girls) and a minority of
students gambled weekly or more during the past year (20 percent of
boys and five percent of girls)," said Dr. Stinchfield. "Boys gambled
three to four times more often than girls and older students gambled
more often than younger students."

"This is useful information because these findings provide a
reference point to help draw the line of what are normal and abnormal
levels of gambling. We can then teach parents and teachers what levels
of gambling frequency may be considered outside the range of common
gambling behavior for youth. Then the information can be used to
identify those youths at risk and help develop prevention efforts,"
said Dr. Stinchfield.

"With gambling becoming more accessible in U.S. society and having
the first generation of youth be exposed to this widespread access, it
will be important to be able to intervene in children's and
adolescent's lives before the activity can develop into a problem
behavior," said the authors.

Other experts who have studied gambling problems with youth have
found similar problems along with some new problems. Psychologists
Rina Gupta, Ph.D., and Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D., of McGill
University examined 817 high school students in Montreal to examine
how addicting gambling is, game preferences and reasons for gambling.
Over 80 percent of the high school students gambled in the previous
year and 35 percent gambled at least once a week. These students also
reported that they gambled more often than they drank alcohol, smoked
or consumed drugs.

Enjoyment and excitement were the most reported reasons for
gambling by non-problem gamblers, said Drs. Gupta and Derevensky.
"Pathological gamblers gambled for excitement too, but also to escape,
to alleviate depression, to promote relaxation and to cope with
loneliness. Interestingly, winning money was not a key motivation for
the pathological gambler."

The pathological gamblers were more likely to have parents with
gambling problems, to be engaging in illegal activities and to have
more suicidal thoughts. The male high school students preferred
gambling with sports lottery tickets and sports betting pools, whereas
the female high school students preferred gambling with lottery
tickets and bingo.

Presentation: "Gambling and Problem Gambling Among Youth" by Randy
Stinchfield, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Rina Gupta, Ph.D., and
Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D., McGill University, Durand Jacobs, Ph.D.,
Redland, CA, Session 5121, 1:00 PM, August 18, 1998, Moscone Center -
South Building, Rooms 232/234.

(Full text available from the APA Public Affairs Office.)

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is
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promoting human welfare.

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