Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the gambling factors related with the gambling problem level of adolescents to provide basic information for the prevention of adolescent gambling problems. The data was drawn from the 2015 Survey on Youth Gambling Problems of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems for Korean students in grades 7–11 (ages 13–17 years) and included 14,011 study subjects (average age 14.9 years, 52.5% male). The lifetime gambling behavior experience was 42.1%, and 24.2% had a gambling behavior experience within the past three months. The past three-month prevalence of problem gambling was 1.1%. The gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling include the presence of nearby gambling facilities, having personal relationships with people that gamble, a higher number of experienced gambling behaviors, male adolescents, and a greater amount of time spent gambling. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report to identify gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling in Korean adolescents using national data. These findings suggest that gambling prevention efforts must consider not only access to individual adolescents as early intervention, but also environmental strategies such as accessibility regulations and alternative activities.
Highlights
Gambling has come to mean wagering money or other belongings on chance activities or events with random or uncertain outcomes [1,2]
The prevalence of the gambling problem level through the Gambling Problem Severity Scale (GPSS)/Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory (CAGI) was classified as 94.9% for no problem (Green light), 4.0% for a low to moderate severity level (Yellow light), and 1.1% for a high severity level (Red light)
The problem gambling level determined through the GPSS/CAGI was classified as 94.9% for no problem (Green light), 4.0% for a low to moderate severity level (Yellow light), and 1.1% for a high severity level (Red light)
Summary
Gambling has come to mean wagering money or other belongings on chance activities or events with random or uncertain outcomes [1,2]. A socially acceptable recreational activity, is difficult for adolescents to access because of the legal age limit. Despite the fact that many people perceive problem gambling to be an issue prevalent only in adults, recent research indicates that problem and pathological gambling pose serious concerns among adolescents [5,6,7]. Adolescent gambling behavior leads to clinically significant impairment or distress, including criminal behavior, poor academic achievement, school truancy, financial problems, depressive symptoms, suicide, low self-esteem, deterioration of social relationships, and substance abuse [8,9,10,11]. Due to having limited financial resources and being legally restricted by gambling age, the core issues may relate to the large amounts of time
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