Abstract
Objectives The study examined Macau parents’ perceptions of underage children’s gambling involvement, and parents’ attitudes towards help seeking if their children had a gambling problem. The parents’ gambling behavior in the past year was also investigated.MethodsThis is a parent survey using a self-administered questionnaire. A convenience sample of 311 Macau parents (106 fathers and 205 mothers) with underage children aged 3–17 years was recruited. The response rate is 77.8%. The participants were asked if they had ever approved or taught their underage children to gamble, and how did they award their children when they won in gambling games. The parents were also asked if they had gambled in the previous 12 months, and their gambling behavior was assessed by the Chinese Problem Gambling Severity Index (CPGSI).ResultsHalf of the parents surveyed (52%) did not approve underage gambling but 81% taught their underage children to play different gambling games. Children were awarded with money (55%), praises (17.5%), toys (15%) and food (12.5%) when they won in games. One-fifth (20.6%) were distressed with their children’s gambling problem. Many (68.8%) were willing to seek help to cope with children’s gambling problems. Only 21.2% (n = 66) of the parents reported gambling in the past year. Using the CPGSI, 4.5% of these gamblers could be identified as problem gamblers, and 16.7% were moderate-risk gamblers.ConclusionThe study results indicate parent education should be included in prevention of underage gambling.
Highlights
Underage gambling is common in different parts of the world
Parental approval for underage gambling most parents (81%) taught their children to play different gambling games, many (n = 162, 52%) reported that they would not approve underage gambling, only 32% would allow their children to gamble with small wagers, and 15.8% did not care if their children gamble or not before they had reached the legal age of gambling in Macau
Parental perceptions of children gambling Among 290 parents who answered the question on parental perceptions of children gambling, 31% (n = 90) accepted the activity as a children recreation, 27.9% (n = 81) viewed gambling as a game, 6.6% (n = 19) regarded it as one type of family activities, and 4.3% (n = 12) viewed it as a memory enhancer for children
Summary
Underage gambling is common in different parts of the world. There has been a lot of evidence suggesting at least 60% of underage youths and children had gambled in the previous year (Adlaf and Ialomiteanu 1999; Adlaf et al 2006; Delfabbro et al 2005; Derevensky et al 1996; Felsher et al 2003; Gupta and Derevensky 1997; Ladouceur et al 1994; Ladouceur and Mireault 1988; Wong 2010a, b). As high as 90% of adolescent students reported that their parents knew they had gambled, and 80% thought their parents did not disapprove (Ladouceur and Mireault 1988). Many of these young gamblers made their first bet at an early age often in a family context. Retrospective reports from adult problem gamblers recruited from Gamblers Anonymous (1997) confirmed early gambling could be harmful. Many of these gamblers began gambling early in life. Illegal gambling among the Macau underage is liable to fines and penalties
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