Teens & Gambling

"The rite of passage has gone from being starting drinking to starting gambling.”
M. Steinberg
"This is the first generation of youth to be exposed to relatively easy access to a variety of gambling venues, widespread gambling advertising, and to pervasive social approval for an inherently risky activity. Only 20 years ago, gambling in the U.S. was primarily limited Las Vegas and Atlantic City.” (Winters, 2006)

What is gambling? Any act that involves the risking of money or valuables on the outcome of a game, contest, or any other risk-taking event

Motives for adolescent gambling: Relaxation - Enjoyment, excitement, entertainment – Adventure – Attention – Opportunity - Escape Negative feelings

Teens commonly:

• Live in the moment and enjoy games that keep them attentive and engaged. The teen lives in the moment with cell phone/ internet/ blackberry immediacy. Remote gambling is especially unique in this manner.
• Are technologically literate and can navigate the internet at the speed of light compared to older generations
• Are high risk takers developmentally. This is a normal part of the teenage experience to challenge the norm and take risks, both physically and emotionally
• Have poor control over impulsive behaviors
• Are able to dominate web sites without physical presence, beauty, strength, or acceptance. Skill is all important.

Types of gambling

Games of skill

• Cards
• Sports betting
• Pool
• Ping pong
• Video games
• Sports
• Internet and online
• Dog or animal fighting
• Remote gambling
• Telephone/cell phone
• Internet – poker sites, sports betting sites, casino games, & lotteries
• Internet gaming sites
• Interactive TV
• Mobile, blackberry, palm/pda
• Rapid development of platforms available. Text messaging and instant betting

Games of Chance

• Rolling dice
• Carnival games
• Lotteries
• Bingo
• Flipping coins
• Scratch offs
• Pull tables

Major modes of teen betting

• Internet
• Online poker
• Peer – to – peer (online bet exchanges)
• Sports betting
• Other types such as: poker, tossing coins, dice, etc

Signs of problem gambling in teens:

• Unexplained absences from school
• Dropping grades
• Increased family conflict
• The family suspects alcohol or other drug abuse
• Asking/taking/stealing money from family friends and strangers
• Large amounts of money in teen’s possession
• Gambling language and gambling an important conversational topic
• Showing off money, clothing, and other possessions
• Spending an unusual amount of time on the computer (out of parents sight), closing down programs when adults walk into the room, reading newspapers (sports page and stats), magazines, an/or periodicals having to do with sports or online poker sites.
• Selling personal belongings (theirs and families)
• Bragging about winnings
• Lying, cheating, or stealing in school
• Exhaustion from lack of sleep
• Digititis (fingers look like they are typing on a key board all the time)
• Playing on a team but not performing to normal abilities (shaving points)
• Overtly interested in how other teams at school are performing
• Overly invested in performance of certain athletes (fantasy football/basketball/etc)

Teen rates for problem gambling at a rate higher than for adults and vary 4%–8% of adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age gamble at a pathological level, and another 10%–15% are at risk of developing a serious problem(2)

If you suspect a teen has a gambling problem, call
1-800-522-4700 for confidential help. Don’t wait for the problem to go away, it will only get worse!

(1) Estimates based on meta-analysis of surveys conducted 1988-1997 (National Research Council, 1999).
(2) Derevensky & Gupta, 2004; Derevensky et al., 2003; Hardoon & Derevensky, 2002; Jacobs, 2000; National Research Council, 1999

Source: National Problem Gambling Awareness Week (http://www.npgaw.org/)

GAMBLING & SPENDING IN THE UNITED STATES

• 85% of US adults have gambled at least once in their lives, 80% in past year.
• Since 1975, the proportion of adults who "never gambled" dropped from 1 in 3 to 1 in 7.
• 48 States with some form of legalized gambling (Hawaii and Utah are the exceptions)
• 2002 U.S. legal gaming revenue was $68.7 billion.
• In 1999 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimated the annual cost to society of problem gambling was $5 billion.
• During fiscal year 2002, U.S. lottery sales totaled $42.4 billion; per capita sales were $168 (NASPL, 2003)
• It is estimated that in 1997 Americans collectively wagered more than $1/2 trillion (National Research Council, 1999)
• Consumers spend more on legal gaming in the U.S. than most other forms of entertainment combined (1998 Gross Annual Wager Report, 1999)
• Forty to 60 percent of cash wagered in casinos is withdrawn from ATMs, either from personal accounts or as cash advances from credit cards (NORC, 1999)

HARMFUL IMPACTS OF PROBLEM GAMBLING

It is important to recognize that most people can gamble without negative consequences. A small percentage, however, of persons who gamble suffer enormous social, economic, and psychological implications. Individuals, families and communities all suffer from problem gambling, and, while it would be impossible to describe all of the repercussions associated with problem gambling, the following issues help to illustrate why problem gambling can be so destructive.

Domestic Issues

Effects of Adult Problem Gambling on Children:

• "Children of compulsive gamblers are often prone to suffer abuse, as well as neglect, as a result of parental problem or pathological gambling" (NORC, 1999)
• Research consistently shows higher rates of pathological gambling in teens whose parents gamble too much (Gupta & Derevensky, 1997; Jacobs, 2000; Wallisch & Liu, 1996)
• Children of problem gamblers have been shown to have higher levels of use for tobacco, alcohol, drug use, and overeating than do their classroom peers (Gupta & Derevensky, 1997)
• Child endangerment and child abuse may increase (NRC, 1999)
• The NRC reported on two studies indicating between 10 and 17 percent of children of compulsive gamblers had been abused" (NRC, 1999)
• Child endangerment was exemplified in Oregon with the September 2001 report of an Oregon licensed day-care provider who left three children (1, 2 and 3 years old) in a van for over 11 hours while she gambled in a casino (Lawrence-Turner, 2001, September 15)

Domestic Violence

• According to the National Research Council (1999), studies indicate that between 25-50 percent of spouses of pathological gamblers have been abused
• Case studies of 10 casino communities revealed that the majority of those communities witnessed increases in domestic violence related to the opening of casinos (National Opinion Research Center, 1999)

Crime

• Several studies suggest that crime rates rise with increased availability of gambling to communities, but this issue is under intense debate
• Forty percent of clients enrolled in Oregon’s gambling treatment system reported committing crimes to finance their gambling (Moore, 2003)
• "As access to money becomes more limited, gamblers often resort to crime in order to pay debts, appease bookies, maintain appearances, and garner more money to gamble" (NRC, 1999)
• Studies of Gamblers Anonymous (GA) members report that approximately half of the participants had stolen to gamble and over one-third had been arrested (Thompson, Gazel, & Rickman, 1996)
• The vast majority of gambling-related crimes are non-violent; embezzlement, check forgery, stealing credit cards, fencing stolen goods, tax evasion, insurance fraud, employee theft and fraud are common gambling-related crimes

Suicide/Depression

• Ten percent of clients enrolled in Oregon’s gambling treatment system considered and formulated plans to commit suicide within six months of enrollment to treatment (Moore, 2003)
• A major depressive disorder is likely to occur in 76 percent of pathological gamblers (Unwin Davis, & Leeuw, 2000)

Source: http://www.npgaw.org/problemgamblinginformation/factsfigures.asp

REFERENCES

1998 Gross Annual Wager Report. International Gaming and Business Wagering (IGBW) Trade Magazine. (1999, August). Retrieved 2/21/02, from http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990803/ny_igwb_wa_1.html

Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J.L. (1997). Familial and social influences on juvenile gambling behavior. Journal of Gambling Studies, 13(3), 179-192.

Lawrence-Turner, J. (9/15/01). Toddlers left in van for 11 hours. Statesman Journal. Retrieved online 3/11/02, from http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm-i=30022

National Opinion Research Center (NORC). (1999). Gambling Impact and Behavior Study, Report to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission [Electronic Version]. Chicago, IL: Author.

National Research Council (NRC). (1999). Pathological Gambling: A Critical Review. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Thompson, W., Gazel, R., Rickman, D. (1996). The social cost of gambling in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report, 9, 144.

Unwin, B.K., Davis, M.K., & Leeuw, J.B. (2000). Pathological gambling. American Family Physician, February 2000, 61, 741-749.

Wallisch, L., & Liu, L. (1996). Drug use and gambling behavior among adults and youths in Texas: Survey findings. In: Epidemiologic Trends in Drug Abuse. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. Volume II: 433-457.

For additional information please see:

Powerpoint: Are our youth receiving a mixed message about gambling? 

 Indiana Problem Gaming Awareness Program:  http://www.ipgap.indiana.edu/

Indiana Council on Problem Gambling, Inc.   http://www.indianaproblemgambling.org/

http://www.youthbet.net
For youth, this site from the University of Toronto is highly interactive and focuses on youth gambling and problem gambling.

http://www.youthgambling.com
International Center for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.

http://www.camh.net/egambling/issue2/feature
Youth Gambling: A Clinical and Research Perspective: From The Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues; prominent researchers Jeffrey Derevensky and Rina Gupta provide an overview of youth gambling problems and review of recent youth gambling research.