Excessive Gambling and Online Gambling Communities

The Internet provides an accessible context for online gambling and gambling-related online communities, such as discussion forums for gamblers. These communities may be particularly attractive to young gamblers who are active Internet users. The aim of this study was to examine the use of gambling-related online communities and their relevance to excessive gambling among 15–25-year-old Finnish Internet users (N?=?1200). Excessive gambling was assessed by using the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Respondents were asked in a survey about their use of various kinds of gambling-related online communities, and sociodemographic and behavioral factors were adjusted. The results of the study revealed that over half (54.33%) of respondents who had visited gambling-related online communities were either at-risk gamblers or probable pathological gamblers. Discussion in these communities was mainly based on sharing gambling tips and experiences, and very few respondents said that they related to gambling problems and recovery. In three different regression models, visiting gambling-related online communities was a significant predictor for excessive gambling (with 95% confidence level) even after adjusting confounding factors. The association of visiting such sites was even stronger among probable pathological gamblers than among at-risk gamblers. Health professionals working with young people should be aware of the role of online communities in terms of development and persistence of excessive gambling. Monitoring the use of online gambling communities as well as utilizing recovery-oriented support both offline and online would be important in preventing further problems. Gambling platforms should also include warnings about excessive gambling and provide links to helpful sources.     

Some theoretical models and constructs generic to substance abuse prevention programs for adolescents: possible relevance and limitations for problem gambling

For the past several years the author and his colleagues have explored the area of how social psychological constructs and theoretical models can be applied to the prevention of health threatening behaviors in adolescents. In examining the need for the development of gambling prevention programs for adolescents, it might be of value to consider the application of such constructs and theoretical models as a foundation to the development of prevention programs in this emerging problem behavior among adolescents. In order to provide perspective to the reader, the present paper reviews the history of various psychosocial models and constructs generic to programs directed at prevention of substance abuse in adolescents. A brief history of some of these models, possibly most applicable to gambling prevention programs, are presented. Social inoculation, reasoned action, planned behavior, and problem behavior theory, are among those discussed. Some deficits of these models, are also articulated. How such models may have relevance to developing programs for prevention of problem gambling in adolescents is also discussed. However, the inherent differences between gambling and more directly health threatening behaviors such as substance abuse must, of course, be seriously considered in utilizing such models. Most current gambling prevention programs have seldom been guided by theoretical models. Developers of gambling prevention programs should consider theoretical foundations, particularly since such foundations not only provide a guide for programs, but may become critical tools in evaluating their effectiveness.     

Hope as a coping resource among parents at risk for child maltreatment

This study investigated hope as a protective factor buffering the relationships between parenting stress and well-being among a sample of parents identified at moderate to high risk for child maltreatment. Two hundred parents were recruited from a nonprofit organization providing secondary and tertiary child maltreatment prevention programs. Results of the analyses showed that parental stress was negatively associated with subjective and emotional well-being. Hope was positively correlated with well-being and negatively associated with parenting stress. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that hope had a significant incremental relationship to well-being and that the negative effects of parenting stress fell below statistical significance. These findings provide preliminary support for hope as a coping resource social workers can target when working with parents in the prevention of child maltreatment.     

The role of foster parents in helping young people develop emancipation skills

The current focus on preparing youths in foster care for emancipation has largely ignored the critical role foster parents have always played in preparing youths to leave their homes and take their place as successful adults in our society. To assure that programs to enhance youths' skills and abilities to function responsibly are fully effective, they must include foster parents. In doing so, they will exponentially increase the hours of service and training available to eligible youths and develop a resource that will be available to future youths after funds are redirected. It is unrealistic, however, to expect foster parents to provide all of the help that most youths in foster care need. Foster family support and training must be seen as one dimension of an integrated approach that provides all youths with a variety of resources but is specific to the needs of each youth. With appropriate support and training, foster parents can assume professional responsibility for assuring that such plans are implemented, and that youths leaving foster care have what they need to emancipate successfully.     

Responsible Gambling: General Principles and Minimal Requirements

Many international jurisdictions have introduced responsible gambling programs. These programs intend to minimize negative consequences of excessive gambling, but vary considerably in their aims, focus, and content. Many responsible gambling programs lack a conceptual framework and, in the absence of empirical data, their components are based only on general considerations and impressions. This paper outlines the consensus viewpoint of an international group of researchers suggesting fundamental responsible gambling principles, roles of key stakeholders, and minimal requirements that stakeholders can use to frame and inform responsible gambling programs across jurisdictions. Such a framework does not purport to offer value statements regarding the legal status of gambling or its expansion. Rather, it proposes gambling-related initiatives aimed at government, industry, and individuals to promote responsible gambling and consumer protection. This paper argues that there is a set of basic principles and minimal requirements that should form the basis for every responsible gambling program.     

Adolescent Alcohol Use and Intergenerational Transfers: Evidence from Micro Data

Using the first seven waves (1997–2003) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), this paper investigates the effect of adolescent alcohol use on the amount of transfers they receive from their parents. Exploiting cross state and time variation in the price of alcohol, the main finding is that greater binge drinking among youths is associated with receiving significantly lower parental transfers. From a theoretical standpoint, one way to interpret this finding is to imagine an altruistic parent using pecuniary incentives to influence child behavior. Given that for many teenagers parental allowance is an important component of their income, limiting and monitoring such transfers may help reducing the chances of excessive drinking by youth.     

Preventing child sexual abuse: parents' perceptions and practices in urban Nigeria

This study examined parents' perceptions of child sexual abuse as well as prevention practices in an urban community in southwest Nigeria. Questionnaires were collected from 387 parents and caregivers of children younger than 15 years of age. Results showed that many parents felt CSA was a common problem in the community, and most parents disagreed with common child sexual abuse myths. In addition, almost all parents ( >90%) reported communicating with their child(ren) about stranger danger. However, about 47% felt their children could not be abused, and over a quarter (27.1%) often left their children alone and unsupervised. There were no significant variations in the perceptions of child sexual abuse and communication practices. The implications of findings for child sexual abuse prevention are discussed.     

Relationships Between Perceived Family Gambling and Peer Gambling and Adolescent Problem Gambling and Binge-Drinking

The study systematically examined the relative relationships between perceived family and peer gambling and adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and binge-drinking. It also determined the likelihood of at-risk/problem gambling and binge-drinking as a function of the number of different social groups with perceived gambling. A multi-site high-school survey assessed gambling, alcohol use, presence of perceived excessive peer gambling (peer excess—PE), and family gambling prompting concern (family concern—FC) in 2750 high-school students. Adolescents were separately stratified into: (1) low-risk, at-risk, and problem/pathological gambling groups; and, (2) non-binge-drinking, low-frequency-binge-drinking, and high-frequency-binge-drinking groups. Multinomial logistic regression showed that relative to each other, FC and PE were associated with greater likelihoods of at-risk and problem/pathological gambling. However, only FC was associated with binge-drinking. Logistic regression revealed that adolescents who endorsed either FC or PE alone, compared to no endorsement, were more likely to have at-risk and problem/pathological gambling, relative to low-risk gambling. Adolescents who endorsed both FC and PE, compared to PE alone, were more likely to have problem/pathological gambling relative to low-risk and at-risk gambling. Relative to non-binge-drinking adolescents, those who endorsed both FC and PE were more likely to have low- and high-frequency-binge-drinking compared to FC alone or PE alone, respectively. Family and peer gambling individually contribute to adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and binge-drinking. Strategies that target adolescents as well as their closely affiliated family and peer members may be an important step towards prevention of harm-associated levels of gambling and alcohol use in youths.     

DSM-IV-J Criteria: A Scoring Error That May Be Modifying the Estimates of Pathological Gambling Among Youths

Previous studies have shown that prevalence rates among youths may be inflated due to a problem in understanding the questions of the SOGS-RA and DSM-IV-MR-J. This article reports another reason why prevalence rates of pathological gambling among youths may be inflated. In 1992, Fisher proposed 9 criteria (the DSM-IV-J) for diagnosing pathological gambling among youths, and formulated 12 questions (the Test questions) to identify the presence of these criteria. An analysis of a sample of studies using the DSM-IV-J reveals that some researchers have incorrectly used the 12 Test questions instead of the 9 criteria, which may have led to overestimated prevalence rates among youths. Other measurement issues may also be contributing to the overestimation of problem gambling in young people. The methodological implications of these issues are discussed.     

Internet Poker Websites and Pathological Gambling Prevention Policy

Despite the widespread increase in online poker playing and the risk related to excessive poker playing, research on online poker websites is still lacking with regard to pathological gambling prevention strategies offered by the websites. The aim of the present study was to assess the pathological gambling-related prevention strategies of online poker websites. Two keywords (“poker” and “poker help”) were entered into two popular World Wide Web search engines. The first 20 links related to French and English online poker websites were assessed. Seventy-four websites were assessed with a standardized tool designed to rate sites on the basis of accountability, interactivity, prevention strategies, marketing, and messages related to poker strategies. Prevention strategies appeared to be lacking. Whereas a substantial proportion of the websites offered incitation to gambling such as betting “tips,” few sites offered strategies to prevent or address problem gambling. Furthermore, strategies related to poker, such as probability estimation, were mostly reported without acknowledging their limitations. Results of this study suggest that more adequate prevention strategies for risky gambling should be developed for online poker.     

Gambling-Related Cognitive Biases and Pathological Gambling Among Youths, Young Adults, and Mature Adults in Chinese Societies

This study investigated the extent to which gambling-related cognitive biases would associate with various levels of gambling pathology among 2,835 youths, 934 young adults, and 162 mature adults in Chinese societies. Results showed that gambling cognitive biases, especially biases in perceived inability to stop gambling and positive gambling expectancy, were salient correlates of pathological gambling across the three age cohorts. Analyses of variances on total cognitive biases also showed a gambling pathology main effect and an age cohort × gambling pathology 2-way interaction effect. It was noted that the probable pathological gambling group had greater cognitive biases than the probable problem gambling group, which in turn had greater cognitive biases than the non-problem gambling group. In the non-problem gambling group, mature adults had greater cognitive biases than youths and young adults, but this pattern was reversed in the probable problem gambling group. In the probable pathological gambling group, youths had greater cognitive biases than young and mature adults. Specific categories of cognitive biases also varied according to gender and gambling pathology. While men as compared to women in the non-problem and probable problem gambling groups reported a greater bias in their perceived inability to stop gambling, no significant gender difference in this bias was found in the probable pathological gambling group. Men generally had greater perceived gambling expectancy bias than women.     

Employment outcomes of young parents who age out of foster care

Despite the high rate of early parenthood among youths in foster care, relatively little is known about the employment outcomes of young parents after they age out of the child welfare system. This study analyzed administrative data for 1943 recently emancipated youths who were the parent of at least one child. Like prior studies of former foster youths, this study finds that only half of the parents were employed at any point during the first four quarters after exiting care, most of those who worked were not consistently employed, and the earnings of parents who were employed were very low. Several demographic and placement history characteristics were associated with an increase or decrease in the odds of being employed and/or with total earnings among the parents who worked. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.     

Anxiety and social stress related to adolescent gambling behaviour

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between anxiety, social stress, and gambling behaviour among 1,044 high school students in grades 7 to 11. Adolescents completed questionnaires concerning their state, trait, and generalised anxiety, social stress, and gambling behaviour. Results reveal that adolescent probable pathological gamblers report more state anxiety, trait anxiety, and higher levels of social stress compared to non‐gamblers, social gamblers, and gamblers at‐risk for serious problems. Gamblers with high state and trait anxiety engaged in more severe gambling behaviours, greater substance abuse, reported different reasons for gambling, and endorsed more dissociation items. The results provide additional support for Jacobs’ (1986) General Theory of Addictions. The implications for treatment and prevention programs are discussed.     

Prevalence of Problem Gambling Among Adolescents: A Comparison Across Modes of Access,Gambling Activities,and Levels of Severity

The high availability and accessibility of online gambling have recently caused public concern regarding the potential increase of gambling-related problems among young people. Nonetheless, few studies among adults and none among adolescents have explored specific characteristics of gamblers as a function of gambling venues to date. This study sought to analyze the prevalence of gambling among a sample of adolescents in the last year, as well as sociodemographic and gambling-related characteristics as possible predictors of at-risk and problem gambling. The sample comprised 1313 adolescents aged 14–18 years. Participants were asked to respond to several questions regarding their gambling behavior. Chi square and ANOVA tests were performed in order to explore differences between groups, and a set of multinomial regressions established significant severity predictors. The prevalence of at-risk and problem gambling was 4 and 1.2 %, respectively. Regression analyses showed that having a relative with gambling problems predicted at-risk gambling. Both living with only one parent or not living with parents at all, and the prevalence of Electronic Gambling Machines in the last year were associated with problem gambling. Mixed-mode gambling was a predictor of both at-risk and problem gambling. Our findings extend previous research on gambling among adolescents by exploring gambling behavior according to different modes of access. Although the prevalence of exclusive online gambling among the total sample was low, these results support the need to consider specific subgroups of gamblers and their concrete related features when conducting both indicated prevention and treatment protocols for adolescents.     

Computer-mediated parenting education: Digital family service provision

Computer-mediated family service provision holds the promise of equal efficacy, lower cost, and higher accessibility than traditional parent education groups that require parents to travel to a service venue, thereby alleviating often-cited pragmatic barriers to participation in parenting programs. Hence, examinations of which populations are attracted to particular service modalities are a necessary step in building a reliable evidence base. The scant computer-mediated parent education literature indicates that online parenting programs are beneficial to indicated or secondary prevention programs seeking to bolster specific parent, child, or dyadic outcomes; it is reasonable to ask, then, if this service provision mechanism would be equally effective for all parents, outside of targeted intervention designs. The current paper describes the provision of computer-mediated parenting services to a large sample of parents (N = 192, 89.6% female, average age 40 years; 27% racial/ethnic minority) with no shared prevention indicator through an employer-based program. Our research questions on service provision and utilization include: Who is served by primary prevention programs like this? Do participants report satisfaction with computer-mediated services commensurate with traditional face-to face services? In addition to significant differences in perceived social support by gender, marital status, and number of children younger than 18 living in the home, results from three measures of parenting attitudes and behaviors (e.g., discipline style, sense of competence, and locus of control), indicate that this sample has some confidence in their general abilities as parents, but struggle to feel an internal sense of control over their children's behavior, with the greatest number of parents tending towards overreactive discipline. Associations between these indicate a consistent pattern such that dysfunctional parenting practices tend to co-occur, and parents who do employ dysfunctional strategies feel less competent as parents. Participants report high satisfaction with these services, at equal or better rates than reported in the parent education literature. This work provides evidence that computer-mediated parenting services can attract and exceed expectations of participants with clinical and subclinical but moderate parenting needs, indicating that this service delivery mode has the potential to reach a wide number of individuals ideally situated for prevention services.     

Lottery participation by youth with gambling problems: are lottery tickets a gateway to other gambling venues?

The aim of the present study was to investigate the types of gambling activities youths with gambling problems participate in and whether the lottery is a key gambling venue for these young people. Secondly, we sought to ascertain whether youths with gambling problems display similar gambling behaviour with lottery tickets as those addicted to traditional forms of gambling. Participants were 1,072 young people, 10-18 years of age, in Ontario, Canada. Youths with gambling problems reported having a preference for lottery tickets compared to other forms of gambling. Differences were found for the frequency with which probable pathological gamblers reported going to the store specifically to purchase lottery tickets. Furthermore, probable pathological gamblers reported chasing their losses after having played the lottery more than the other gambling groups. This research demonstrates that youths with gambling problems gamble primarily with lottery products and exhibit similar pathological gambling behaviour (e.g., chasing) as those individuals addicted to other forms of gambling venues. Furthermore, the results suggest that lottery tickets are a potentially addictive activity that introduces youth to the exciting properties of gambling.     

Familial and social influences on juvenile gambling behavior

Social learning theory maintains that individuals model, learn and maintain behaviors that are observed, appealing and reinforcing. As such, parents and family members can often serve as significant models for gambling. Four hundred and seventy seven children between the ages of 9 and 14 completed a questionnaire inquiring about their gambling activities, including where and with whom gambling occurs, as well as information concerning their perceptions of their own gambling behavior. Results indicate that 86% of children who gamble regularly reported gambling with family members. Fifty-three percent of students who gambled within the previous 12 months reported gambling with their siblings, 40% gambled with their parents, 46% gambled with other relatives, and 75% gambled in their own homes. Students' responses also indicated gambling with their friends (75%), gambling alone (18%), and with strangers (8%). As children's age increases they tend to gamble more at friend's homes and at school. Prevalence rates indicated that 81% of the total sample had gambled at one point in their lives and 52% of those children reported gambling once a week or more. Eleven percent reported that gambling makes them feel important, 27% feel they gamble more than they desire to do so, and only 10% of the grade 8 students fear being caught gambling, suggesting gambling activities to be a socially acceptable behavior. Several clinical and research questions are addressed.     

Attitudes towards and perception of gambling among secondary school students in a developing country

ABSTRACT

Gambling is common in Nigeria and over the years has gained wide acceptability among the populace. Improved technology and legalization of gambling have led to increased gambling opportunities among young people. The aim of this study is to determine the attitude towards and perception of gambling among a sample of secondary school students in South East Nigeria. A total of 507 male students from three male-only urban Secondary Schools in Owerri, Imo State participated in the study. Multistage sampling technique was used in sample selection. Data was collected using a self-administered socio-demographic questionnaire and the 9 Item Attitude Towards Gambling Scale. Results showed an overall negative perception of gambling. Majority of the respondents (82.8%) perceived gambling as a risky activity while few (27.3%) perceived it as a good way of earning an income quickly. More than half of the respondents (52.7%) believed that gambling yields a high return. There was a significant association between parental gambling and positive attitude towards gambling (X = 6.27, p = 0.04). Thus, preventive strategies targeted towards changing gambling attitudes in parents may serve a dual role of changing attitudes and perception of gambling in their offspring.     

Gambling behaviours and associated familial influences among 9-year old Pacific children in New Zealand

There is a paucity of research investigating child gambling, particularly studies that do not use retrospective designs. The presented findings provide cross-sectional data of the gambling behaviours of 874 9-year old Pacific children from a birth cohort study (recruited from one hospital) investigating health, developmental and social outcomes for Pacific children and their families in New Zealand. Structured interviews were administered to participants (mothers and children), face to face, in their homes (mothers) or school (children). Child gambling behaviours and associations with some maternal behaviours were investigated; five gambling participation questions were included in the child interview. Almost all child respondents (96%) reported having played card games with family or friends and 60% reported participation in housie (bingo), although only 27% reported having bet with money. Associations were noted between child gambling and household deprivation, and effectiveness of parental monitoring. There was no association between children's gambling and mothers' gambling. This is the first research to examine gambling in Pacific children at 9 years of age within a familial context. It will allow exploration of links between parental gambling and child development of gambling behaviours, as well as risk and protective factors for problem gambling at future data collection phases of the study.