Correlates of College Student Gambling in the United States

Abstract

The authors report findings from the first national survey of gambling among college students. They collected information from 10,765 students attending 119 scientifically selected colleges included in the 2001 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS), which indicated that 42% of responding students gambled in the last school year and 2.6% gambled weekly or more frequently. These findings contradict the widely held opinion based on previous studies that gambling is prevalent among college students. Previous studies used convenience samples that might have overestimated the risk for gambling problems. Male students and students of legal age (> or = 21 y) were more likely than others to gamble. Availability of gambling, measured by the number of types of gambling venues located in the schools' states, influenced their decisions to gamble. The concordance of characteristics associated with both gambling and binge drinking suggested a disposition to take risks that is independent of the risk objects.

Gambling and Video Game Playing Among Youth

“…Consistent with the findings of the majority of gambling research, significantly more males than females had gambled (Bakken, Gotestam, Grawe, Wenzel, & Oren, 2009;Barnes et al, 2010;Bhullar, Simons, & Joshi, 2012;Derevensky & Gupta, 2000b;Engwall, Hunter, & Steinberg, 2004;LaBrie, Shaffer, LaPlante, & Wechsler, 2003;Stuhldreher, Stuhldreher, & Forrest, 2007). Gambling may be more normalized for males than for females, especially during childhood and adolescence, whereas it may be seen less as a way to socialize and more as a risky activity by young females.…”

“…Males are consistently reported to have higher rates of problem gambling than females are (Bakken et al, 2009;Barnes et al, 2010;Blinn-Pike, Worthy, & Jonkman, 2007;Burger, Dahlgren, & MacDonald, 2006;Engwall et al, 2004;Goudriaan, Slutske, Krull, & Sher, 2009;LaBrie et al, 2003;Platz, Knapp, & Crossman, 2005;Stinchfield, Hanson, & Olson, 2006). Although females are not exempt from developing gambling problems, they tend to develop problems later in life, and this was reflected in the current sample.…”

Internet gambling and risk-taking among students: An exploratory study

“…While some researchers suggest college and university students may be at heightened risk for developing gambling problems (Engwall, Hunter & Steinberg, 2004;Neighbors, Lostutter, Cronce & Larimer, 2002;Platz, Knapp & Crossman, 2005;Volberg, 2002), others report no increase in gambling behavior (LaBrie et al, 2003). Nonetheless, by all indications a significant number of college students report gambling; 67%-76% of college students have gambled in their lifetime (Engwall et al, 2004;Kerber, 2005;Platz et al, 2005;Stuhldreher et al, 2007) and from 42%-92% of students report gambling during the past year (Burger, Dahlgren & MacDonald, 2006;Ellenbogen, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta & Paskus, 2008;Huang, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta & Paskus, 2007a;LaBrie et al, 2003;Weinstock, Whelan, Meyers & Watson, 2007).…”

“…While some researchers suggest college and university students may be at heightened risk for developing gambling problems (Engwall, Hunter & Steinberg, 2004;Neighbors, Lostutter, Cronce & Larimer, 2002;Platz, Knapp & Crossman, 2005;Volberg, 2002), others report no increase in gambling behavior (LaBrie et al, 2003). Nonetheless, by all indications a significant number of college students report gambling; 67%-76% of college students have gambled in their lifetime (Engwall et al, 2004;Kerber, 2005;Platz et al, 2005;Stuhldreher et al, 2007) and from 42%-92% of students report gambling during the past year (Burger, Dahlgren & MacDonald, 2006;Ellenbogen, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta & Paskus, 2008;Huang, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta & Paskus, 2007a;LaBrie et al, 2003;Weinstock, Whelan, Meyers & Watson, 2007). Rates for problem gambling among college students range from 2-9% for at-risk to 1-5% for probable pathological gamblers (Burger et al, 2006;Ellenbogen et al, 2008;Engwall et al, 2004;Neighbors et al, 2002;Rockey Jr., Beason, Howington, Rockey & Gilbert, 2005;Skitch & Hodgins, 2005;Weinstock et al, 2007;Winters, Bengston, Door & Stinchfield, 1998;Wong, Chan, Tai & Tao, 2008), with rates up to 15% for student athletes (Kerber, 2005) and 11% for students in Las Vegas (Platz et al, 2005).…”

“…Some researchers report that this period represents a stage where youth, as a group, exhibit a disproportional amount of reckless behavior, sensation seeking, and risk taking (Arnett, 1992(Arnett, , 2000(Arnett, , 2007Bradley & Wildman, 2002;Duangpatra, Bradley & Glendon, 2009;LaBrie, Shaffer, LaPlante & Wechsler, 2003;Nelson & Barry, 2005;Worthy, Jonkman & Blinn-Pike, 2010). Most studies of risk and college students involve sexual behavior, driving, and alcohol and/or drug abuse (Bradley & Wildman, 2002;Duangpatra et al, 2009;Ravert et al, 2009;Schulenberg & Zarrett, 2006); despite its normalization, gambling can be considered a high-risk activity (LaBrie et al, 2003;Stuhldreher, Stuhldreher & Forrest, 2007;Worthy et al, 2010).…”