Youth Gambling

Articles Concerning
Youth Gambling

Patterns and Characteristics of Adolescent Gambling. Ken Winters, Randy Stinchfield, J. Fulkerson. Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol 9, p371-386, 1993. This survey was conducted on 1,094 Minnesota youth (ages 15-18), a few months prior to the Minnesota Lottery start-up. The survey showed that abstinence from gambling is rare among Minnesota teenagers; nearly 90 percent have gambled at least once in their lifetime. By combining frequency of gambling and the presence of problem gambling signs and symptoms, three distinct groups were identified: Problem gamblers (6.3 percent of those surveyed), At-risk gamblers (19.9 percent) and No-problem gamblers (73.9 percent). Characteristics and psychosocial factors of the problem gamblers were identified.

Toward the Development of an Adolescent Gambling Problem Severity Scale. Ken Winters, Randy Stinchfield and Jayne Fulkerson. Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 9(1), p63-84, Spring 1993. This study describes the development and initial psychometric properties of an adolescent gambling problem severity measure adapted from a well-known adult measure, the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) (Lesieur & Blume, 1987). More than 1,100 older teenagers (ages 15 to 18) participated in this state-wide gambling survey. The study presents initial psychometric evidence for the SOGS-RA as a recent measure of gambling problem severity for older male adolescents.

Pathological Gambling Among Adolescents: Massachusetts Gambling Screen (MAGS). Howard J. Shaffer, Richard LaBrie, Kathleen M. Scanlan and Thomas N. Cummings. Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 10(4), p339-362, Winter 1994. This article describes the Massachusetts Gambling Screen (MAGS), which was developed to gauge non-pathological and pathological gambling during a 5-to 10-minute survey and to document the first psychometric translation of DSM-IV pathological gambling criteria into a set of survey questions. More than 850 Boston suburban high school students were surveyed. The sample was not randomly selected and was predominantly (95-97 percent) white. The survey showed that the prevalence of gambling related social and emotional problems was significantly greater for adolescent males than for females.

Gambling Among Primary School Students. Robert Ladouceur, Dominique Dube', Annie Bujold. Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 10(4), p363-370, Winter 1994. This study identifies the gambling behavior of Quebec youth. Some 1,320 French-speaking children from the 4th, 5th and 6th grades were surveyed to measure gambling participation. The results of the survey showed that 86 percent had wagered at one time or another and that 61 percent gamble with lotteries. Other forms of gambling were: bingo (55.5 percent), playing cards for money (53.3 percent), sports betting (47.9 percent), betting on specific events (32.3 percent), video games (28.6 percent), and games of skill (10.7 percent).

Monitoring Gambling Among Minnesota Adolescents. Ken Winters, Randy Stinchfield and L. Kim. Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 11(2), p165-183, Summer, 1995. Pre-Lottery and post-Lottery gambling behavior is compared in a prospective sample of 532 Minnesota youths. Key findings related to the comparisons are: 1) No statistically significant changes were seen for total gambling frequency, rate of "regular" (weekly or daily) gambling, and rate of potential pathological gambling; 2) Significant decreases in gambling frequency occur for several non-legal games and two legal games (bingo and pull tabs); and 3) 28 percent of underage youths who play scratch tabs, pull tabs or the Lottery purchase these games themselves, while 73 percent use parents to access them.

1995 College Gambling Survey: University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Minnesota Duluth, and Moorhead State University. Ken C. Winters, Phyllis L. Bengtson, Randy Stinchfield and Derek Dorr. Minnesota Department of Human Services, April, 1996. The study was conducted to assess the relationship between gambling and drug use among college students. The variables most highly correlated with total gambling frequency for all three campuses were gender, licit (alcohol and tobacco) drug use, disposable income, illicit drug use and having parent(s) with a gambling problem.

Gambling and Problem Gambling Among Georgia Adolescents. Rachel A. Volberg. Georgia Department of Human Services, June 25, 1996. More than 1,000 Georgia adolescents aged 13 to 17 were interviewed by telephone to assess gambling and problem gambling among Georgia's youth. The study found that the proportion of Georgia adolescents who gamble was lower than among Georgia adults or among adolescents in other states. Adolescent gamblers were most likely to be older, male and have weekly incomes of $50 or more. Males, regular users of alcohol and drugs, and those whose parents gamble were most likely to experience gambling difficulties. Seventy percent of the adolescent problem gamblers have felt nervous about their gambling, 45 percent believed they have a gambling problem and 14 percent have desired or sought treatment for a gambling problem, suggesting a minimum of 1,200 adolescents who would access services if available.

Familial and Social Influences on Juvenile Gambling Behavior. Rina Gupta & Jeffrey Derevensky. National Conference on Compulsive Gambling, Chicago, Illinois. McGill University, Montreal. September 1996. A brief questionnaire was given to 477 Montreal students, aged 9 to 14, regarding their gambling activities. Eighty-one percent of students reported they had gambled, with 52 percent reporting weekly gambling activities. Gambling behavior increased significantly from 69 percent of fourth graders having gambled to 85 percent for sixth graders and 84 percent for eighth graders. Gambling at home was constant across grade levels, while gambling at friends' houses and at school increased with age. The paper associates the high levels of gambling among youth with society's acceptance of gambling and parental/communal influence. It also suggests that greater public awareness and education is needed on the potential problems analogous to juvenile gambling given the small, but increasing number of children having problems with gambling.

Gambling Behavior of Adolescent Gamblers. Richard Govoni, Nicholas Rupcich and G. Ron Frisch. Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 12(3), p305-317, Fall 1996. An adolescent version of the SOGS (SOGS-RA) was given to 965 high school students, aged 14 to 19 years, in Windsor, Ontario. Problem gambling levels were estimated at 8.1 percent of the sample. Males showed significantly higher rates of problem, and at-risk gambling behavior. Adolescents reporting excessive parental gambling were twice as likely to have problem or at risk gambling rates.

Questions or comments about this web site, email us.
Copyright © 1999-2004  Institute for Problem Gambling
Last modified: November 21, 2004