New study reveals worrying gambling patterns among high school students in Skåne, Sweden

Gambling

Anders Håkansson, professor of addiction medicine
Published 23 Oct 2024

Swedish adolescents – both below and above the legal gambling age of 18 years – gamble for money. A recent survey study of high school students in southern Sweden reveals worrying findings. The study was published in Journal of Gambling Studies earlier this year.

In 2023, an anonymous online survey study was carried out among high school students across several high schools in Skåne county, southern Sweden. The study was prompted by previous research showing significant levels of problem gambling among minors, despite the legal restrictions that should prevent their access to gambling.  Paradoxically, problem gambling rates in minors may surpass those of adults. One could hypothesize that the rise of a a modern, highly digitalized gambling market, with more advanced identification requirements, would lead to lower gambling rates among minors.

However, the digitalized gambling market does not appear to prevent underage gambling, and the study findings cause some concern.  Already at the age of 16 years, eight percent of participants endorsed screening criteria of a gambling problem. In 18-year-old students, who have reached the legal gambling age, one in six high school students screened positive for a gambling problem.

Do young people gamble online despite modern identity verification?

Among 16- and 17-year-olds, one in five students had engaged in online sports betting, and by age 16, over one in nine had spent money on online casino gambling, with rates rising after turning 18. Also, one in four 16-year-old reported spending money on gambling within video games. Interestingly, beyond the online gambling types reported, around 30 percent of the minors in the study had gambled for money on physical card games.

Previous surveys have shown large, gender differences in gambling behaviour and gambling problems. Traditionally, women tend to initiate gambling later in life and rarely have been reported to develop gambling problems during adolescence. For instance, a 2016 school survey from the same region revealed that while less than 1 per cent of  female respondents in the second grade of high school (typically around 17 years of age), screened positive for gambling problems, 14 per cent of boys did.

In this recent study, however, 13 percent of boys and five percent of girls in high school screened positive for gambling problems. This could be interpreted as a slight narrowing of the gender gap in problem gambling prevalence. To put it simply: are girls closing in on boys regarding their gambling habits? Further research is needed to explore this trend.

Is gambling among young people related to attitudes and parental gambling habits?

It appears that adolescents who develop gambling problems often perceive gambling more positively than the general consensus. Adolescents who screened positive for gambling problems were more likely than others to have gambled with their father or mother, and it was also more common for them to report that their parents had gambled in the past year.

Differences in gambling attitudes were observed between those with and without gambling problems. All attitude-related study items did not differ, but adolescents with gambling problems were more likely to view gambling positively and less likely to acknowledge its potential harms. In essence, those with gambling problems tended to believe that gambling benefits society rather than causing harm.

Are high school athletes at higher risk?

 Previous studies show that elite athletes have an increased risk of gambling problems. However, this survey of high school athletes from sports-focused schools did not find a higher prevalence of gambling issues compared to their peers in non-sports classes. Although it was surprising, student athletes did have more favorable attitudes toward gambling. The increased risk of gambling problems seen in older elite athletes might not yet apply to younger athletes. Further research is needed to determine if the risk increases later, with the elite sports environment.

Conclusion: We should be worried about future gambling

This study highlights that high school students, particularly those aged 16 and 17, engage in  high-risk gambling. This might be cause for concern as it may put young people at risk of developing future gambling problems, especially as online casinos are notably associated with severe gambling issues among adults. While this is just one study, the findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced  preventive action to address gambling risks among young people.

 

The article is written by

Anders Håkansson, professor of addiction medicine, Lund University, and the Gambling Disorder Treatment Unit, Department of Psychiatry Malmö, Region Skåne, Sweden.

on the request of PopNAD

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