Gambling in Spanish Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Mental Health Indicators.

Alicia Pérez-Albéniz,Mario Gil,Beatriz Lucas-Molina,Gema Martín-Seoane,Adriana Díez-Gómez

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010129

Abstract

Concern about the development of behavioral addictions in adolescence, including gambling, has increased in recent years. Evidence shows that problem gambling can lead to personal, social, or health problems. However, even though gambling is an illegal activity, studies on this problem are quite limited in Spain. The main objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of gambling in adolescents in Spain. Moreover, gambling behaviors were examined according to gender and age, and their possible relationship with several mental health indicators was analyzed. The results showed that 20.6% of the adolescents who participated in the study had gambled money in the past year. The highest gambling prevalence was found in boys and in adolescents from the age of 16 years old. Moreover, the results showed that gambling behavior was related to different mental health indicators.

Highlights

The population is more or less familiar with addiction to drugs or other substances, non-substance addiction has become a new and growing problem in modern society
The prevalence of gambling in the past 12 months was analyzed in the whole sample
The results show a progressive increase in gambling frequency with age in the two gambling modalities

Summary

Introduction

The population is more or less familiar with addiction to drugs or other substances, non-substance addiction has become a new and growing problem in modern society. In Spain, gambling and games of chance are widespread, and this is demonstrated by the data from the National Drug Plan [4] in the Survey on Drug use in Secondary Schools in Spain (Encuesta Sobre el Uso de Drogas en Enseñanzas Secundarias en España, ESTUDES) survey. These data reveal that, in 2017, 60.2% of the population between 15 and 64 years old had gambled with money in the past year. The latest European report [5] revealed an increase in the prevalence of gambling with money in the past 12 months, given that 22%

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