Gambling and Problem Gambling among Minnesota Public School Students in 2019

Abstract

This study has three specific aims. First, examine gambling participation and problem gambling rates for 2019. Second, compare 2019 rates of gambling participation and problem gambling to 2016 to determine if rates increased, decreased or stayed the same. Third, examine what demographic, psychosocial and behavioral variables are associated with adolescent problem gambling. The 2019 sample includes 55,552 male and 58,155 female Minnesota public school students enrolled in the 8th, 9th, and 11th grades and the 2016 sample includes 58,232 male and 59,294 female students from 8th, 9th, and 11th grades. Students were administered the Minnesota Student Survey. For 2019, the gambling participation rate was 29.6%, the frequent gambling rate was 6.5%. The problem gambling rate was 0.5% with an additional 2.3% that had problems associated with their gambling but it did not reach the threshold of problem gambling. More boys gambled than girls (38.5% versus 21.1%); more boys gambled frequently than girls (9.7% versus 3.4%); and more boys were positive for problem gambling than girls (0.9% versus 0.2%). There were fewer students gambling in 2019 (29.6%) than in 2016 (32.1%). There were fewer students gambling frequently in 2019 (6.5%) than in 2016 (7.5%). There was no change in the problem gambling rate (0.5%) between 2016 and 2019. Tobacco use and antisocial behaviors were related to problem gambling but only accounted for 16% of the variance in problem gambling. There is a small segment of the adolescent population that gambles excessively and experiences problems associated with their gambling.