The Prevalence and Types of Gambling Among Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in New York City

Abstract

To examine the prevalence of gambling and types of gambling activities in a sample of undocumented Mexican immigrants. Non-probability cross-sectional design. New York City. The 431 respondents ranged in age from 18 to 80 (mean age 32), 69.7% were male. More than half (53.8%) reported gambling in their lifetime and of those most (43.9%) played 'scratch and win' tickets or the lottery. In multivariate analyses men reported gambling more than women [2.13, 95% CI = (1.03, 4.38)]. The odds of gambling in their lifetime were higher among those reporting sending money to family or friends in the home country [2.65, 95% CI = 1.10, 6.38)], and those who reported 1-5 days as compared to no days of poor mental health in the past 30 days [2.44, 95% CI = 1.22, 4.89)]. Conversely, those who reported entering the U.S. to live after 1996 were less likely to report gambling [0.44, 95% CI = (0.22, 0.89)] as compared to those who had lived in the U.S. longer. There is a need to further explore both the prevalence and the severity of gambling amongst the growing population of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the U.S.