Gambling and social gambling: An exploratory study of young people's perceptions and behaviour

Abstract

Background and aims: Gambling-type games that do not involve the spending of money (e.g., social and ‘demo’ [demonstration] gambling games, gambling-like activities within video games) have been accused in both the legal and psychological literature of increasing minors’ propensity towards prohibited forms of gambling thus prompting calls for gambling regulation to capture address such games and subject them to age restrictions. However, there is still a shortage of empirical data that considers how young people experience monetary and non-monetary gambling, and whether they are sufficiently aware of the differences. Methods: Data was collected from 23 qualitative focus groups carried out with 200 young people aged between 14 and 19 years old in schools based in London and Kent. As the study was exploratory in nature, thematic analysis was adopted in order to capture how pupils categorise, construct, and react to gambling-like activities in comparison to monetary forms of gambling without the constrains of a predetermined theoretical framework. Results: Despite many similarities, substantial differences between monetary and non-monetary forms of gambling were revealed in terms of pupils’ engagement, motivating factors, strengths, intensity, and associated emotions. Pupils made clear differentiation between non-monetary and monetary forms of gambling and no inherent transition of interest from one to the other was observed among participants. Only limited evidence emerged of ‘demo’ games being used as a practice ground for future gambling. Conclusion: For the present sample, non-monetary forms of gambling presented a different proposition to the real-money gambling with no inherent overlap between the two. For some the ‘softer’ form minimised the temptation to try other forms of gambling that they were not legally allowed to engage in, but ‘demo’ games may attract those who already want to gamble. Policy implications: Regulators must recognise and balance these two conflicting aspects.

Perceptions, people and place: Findings from a rapid review of qualitative research on youth gambling

“…Gambling was seen by some as synonymous with risk and it was debated whether things like buying insurance constituted gambling or not ( Korn, 2005 ). In other studies, youth perceptions of gambling were clearly linked to financial risk, whereby gambling involved the risk and reward of money ( Caldo, Alexandre, & Griffiths, 2014 ; Carran & Griffiths, 2015 ).…”

“…“it was my 16 th birthday so I could, so I thought that I just did. It was the first time I did it and I have never done it again” ( Carran & Griffiths, 2015 ).…”

“…When asked to describe different types of gambling, some youth included free online games “well, there’s some poker that you play for free and there’s the member area where you play for money” ( Wilson & Ross, 2011 ) and others saw the functionality for ‘betting’ within video games as the same as gambling ( Caldo et al, 2014 ). Some participants were clear that gambling for virtual chips, points or virtual prizes was different from gambling for real money ( Carran & Griffiths, 2015 ) whereas others felt they were similar in that things of value were being risked and rewarded:…”

“…There was only one study which was unambiguous on this, stating that youth clearly saw these as different types of activity ( Carran & Griffiths, 2015 ).…”

Responsible Gambling and Mental Health: Topics for an Integrated Strategy in Prevention and Harm Reduction of Behavioral Addictions

“…The multiplicity of motivations for games in both domains is very extensive. 73 However, factors such as the early contact with different game opportunities, dimensions and vulnerabilities of the psycho -affective and family functioning and others associated to the quality of social and community involvement deserve careful study. In this perspective, the education for the digital use -of technologies (overall), Internet, videogames and others -whether of children and adolescents, whether by families, constitutes a crucial aspect to be focused for a wider perspective of environmental prevention in the domain of gambling.…”