“What Game are We Playing?”: the Psychosocial Context of Problem Gambling and Gaming Among Italian High School Students

Abstract

Gambling and gaming are not infrequent among adolescents and preventing low-risk youth from becoming at-risk appears to be a priority of public health strategies. Greater scrutiny of the risk and protective factors in the relationships and community of young people appears crucial in steering prevention initiatives adequately. This study aimed to explore how the qualities of relational networks (i.e. family functioning, perceived social and class support), family and peer approval and attitude to the social environment combine in predicting problem gambling, problem gaming and overall well-being among adolescents. High-school students aged 14-18 years (N: 595; female: 68,7%) completed a survey including the target variables. A multivariate multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the role of socio-demographic characteristic and psychosocial predictors on gaming, gambling, and well-being. Multivariate multiple regressions identify a common core underpinning problem gambling, gaming and poor well-being but also the distinct roles of psychosocial variables: being male, with low parental monitoring, higher gambling approval from family and friends and the tendency to have a reactive, extreme and negative attitude towards the social environment all interact in predicting problem gambling and gaming, which were also found to be associated. Poor family functioning, low support and a view of the social environment as anomic and untrustworthy interact in predicting poor well-being. On the whole the findings suggest the need to look more closely at the way adolescents, their system of activity and their culture interact with each other in constructing the meaning of gambling and gaming activities and their impact on adolescents’ well-being, so that future studies and strategies can more effectively examine the relational dynamics in which problem gambling and gaming develop.