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A Rutgers-led study found that more than half of Americans ages 13 to 27 have gambled at least once, and that 10.3 percent of those gamblers are at high risk of gambling addiction, according to The Daily Targum.
The study was led by Lia Nower. It analyzed a nationally representative sample of 4,599 respondents living in the U.S. Researchers also conducted 1,677 interviews for the project.
Adolescent and college gambling rates
Among the 885 surveyed adolescents ages 13 to 17, 43 percent reported gambling in the past year, and 10.8 percent were classified as high risk for problem gambling. Among surveyed college undergraduates, 61.3 percent reported gambling within the past year.
Approximately 1 in 5 of all respondents were labeled at some level of risk for potential problem gambling.
The study defined gambling broadly. It included sports betting, casino gambling, lottery play, cryptocurrency trading, high-risk stock trading, and prediction markets.
Nower said risk is influenced by the type and frequency of gambling activities and by the age at which gambling begins. She said online-only gamblers are at significantly higher risk than people who gamble only in person.
"Gambling is what’s called a spectrum disorder," Nower said, explaining that most people gamble recreationally while only some develop a gambling disorder.
On sports betting, she said about 70 percent of bets lose and more than 90 percent of parlays lose. "The reality is, the house always wins," she said.
Calls for regulation and prevention
Nower proposed creating a federal agency to set minimum gambling standards. She also criticized the lack of advertising rules.
"There’s no (advertising regulations), like for alcohol or for cigarettes … There’s no rules with regard to gambling, so people can blatantly advertise to younger kids," Nower said.
She also called for prevention work in schools. "We need to start building the same types of education and identification and early prevention in schools, as we do for drugs or alcohol or cigarettes or vaping," Nower said.
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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Source: As reported by The Daily Targum.
