Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

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• The game often leads to results; you are often close to winning, without actually having won anything. • Certain visual effects and sound effects in the game. • The game is easily accessible. The Swedish sociologist Ove Svensson has written a thesis on young people and gambling which is based partly on the Swedish population study and its follow-up and partly on a number of qualitative interviews with young people. Ove Svensson writes that certain types of games more readily provide a sense of “flow”, an experience that allows the gambler to disconnect from the outer world for a while and go in and flow with the game. The types of games which allow this experience are fast and continuous games that increase the participation of the gambler and prolong the continuity of the game. According to Svensson, you get this feeling more easily if you play often, for a long time and intensively (76). Types of games which include several of the above-mention factors, which are fast and continuous and can thus be regarded as risky games are amongst others: – Fruit machines: Give rapid feedback, high winnings, are designed in such a way that the gambler readily believes that he or she can influence the game through skill. – Most casino games: Give rapid feedback, the stakes are high as are often the winnings. – Betting on sports: The gambler readily feels that he or she can influence the game through skill, the games often lead to a result that is “close to winning” and the stakes can be high. – Most games on the Internet: Internet gambling is easily accessible, the games have many attractive visual and graphical effects, feedback is rapid (moreover, you can gamble on several websites at a time) and they are open round-the-clock. You can also gamble on your own, undisturbed and high on alcohol and drugs. In a study on British adolescents playing on fruit machines, Griffiths has highlighted the fact that not only are fruit machines in the UK technically designed in such a way that they enhance the gambler’s belief in the importance of his/her own skill, but they have also been given names that lead to such associations. Some are, for example, called Skill Cash, Fruit Skill and Real Money (79). According to Svensson, young people generally prefer fast and continuous types of games. Adolescent Swedes at the end of the 1990s preferred to gamble on the riskiest games and it was most of all adolescent problem and pathological gamblers who did so. Compared to other young people, they played more often on, for example, fruit machines, sport games, card games and instant lotteries (17, 76). Norwegian studies also indicate that playing fruit machines is over-represented among children with gambling problems, two out of three adolescents with gambling problems mostly play on fruit machines (12). Unrealistic understanding of the possibilities of the game In yet another study, Moore and Ohtsuka (78) found that young problem/pathological gamblers had a more irrational understanding of the game than other young people. Problem/Pathological gamblers were more prone to an exaggerated belief in their own ability to control the outcome of the game, in other words the illusion of control over the game. In addition, they believed that gambling was a good way of getting money. Young problem or pathological gamblers overestimated their control over their own gambling, in other words the ability to be able to stop in time, limit their gambling and the stakes, more than young people without problems. Computer and TV games Computer and TV games are not geared towards winning money, only towards entertainment and enjoyment. There are various types of games geared towards children and young people, for example action games, puzzles, role plays, strategy games, games played on the Internet (online games), sports games, quizzes and adventure games. All of these games are different in character; some of them are similar to gambling games others are completely different. Too few studies are as yet available to be able to say anything about computer or TV game addiction and whether there is a link between these games and problem/pathological gambling. A handful of studies indicate that some children and 33
34 young people play computer and/or TV games in a way that is reminiscent of problem gambling, in other words they play uncontrollably and impulsively without being able to limit their playing, sacrificing other social activities to play and neglecting their schoolwork. In addition we can see that some young people who have gambling problems also play more computer and/or TV games than other young people, and that they also with this games have trouble limiting themselves (29, 80–82). An experimental Canadian study of children aged between 9 and 14 compared both the behaviour of children who played computer games frequently with children who played more rarely as well as their understanding of games. Children who played computer games often and for long periods of time also said that they gambled more than other children. Moreover, they said that their gambling made them feel “more important” and apparently these children were more prone to taking risks when they played Black Jack compared to children who did not play computer games as often. The link between computer games and gambling in boys also applied to girls. One interesting find in this study was the fact that girls who played a lot of computer games also gambled, more than both boys and girls who did not play computer games at all (81). gambling as a form of escapism and as a distraction In a study from the International Centre for Youth Problem Gambling and High-Risk Behaviors, young people who were problem or pathological gamblers said they gambled to escape their problems, to reduce the effects of depression, to relax, to feel older or for social reason more often than other young people. Young people who did not have a gambling problem played for pleasure, to make money or for the excitement. Moreover, those who were problem or pathological gamblers mentioned a dissociating experience when they gambled, in other words they lost all sense of time and space, felt that they were “outside themselves” or that they were in a trance-like state. These feelings occurred more seldom in those who gambled without problems (6). This description seems to correspond to what the pathological gamblers in Ove Svensson’s thesis described as a sense of “flow”, in other words they flow with the game, totally immersed in the game and thus block off all other thoughts for a moment (76). Svensson continues that gambling can become a way for young people to handle pressure during their teenage years, for example different problems, conflicts or stress. Gambling can act as an outlet and help young people cope with their every day lives by giving them renewed strength. On the other hand, if they gamble too much this can lead to a lack of a sense of context and meaning in their lives, which in turn may contribute to making them feel worse and to problem or pathological gambling. This is also confirmed in a study carried out by the researchers at the International Centre for Youth Problem Gambling and High-Risk Behaviors in Canada. In this study, young pathological gamblers handle stress and unpleasant feelings in a different way compared to young people with a gambling problem or who have no gambling problems at all. In this study, young people with a gambling problem or without problems said that they actively tried to resolve problems or handle stressful situations, both inner emotional stress and outer pressure. In other words, they confronted their problems actively and were focused on finding a solution. The young pathological gamblers in the study,
Page 1 and 2: Gambling Among Young People A Knowl
Page 3 and 4: © swedish national institute of pu
Page 5 and 6: 6. Prevention _____________________
Page 7 and 8: 6 Summary In 2001, the Swedish Nati
Page 9 and 10: 8 Background Adolescent Swedes gamb
Page 11 and 12: 10 Definitions what is meant by gam
Page 13 and 14: 12 types of games You can divide th
Page 15 and 16: 14 Introduction Most surveys on the
Page 17 and 18: 16 few possibilities of obtaining m
Page 19 and 20: 18 the possibility of winning Child
Page 22 and 23: 3. pathological gambling - the asse
Page 24 and 25: problem gambler since she believes
Page 26 and 27: who had scored 0 points was 54 per
Page 28 and 29: that first presented the tool, the
Page 30 and 31: 4. pathological gambling in young p
Page 32 and 33: included nine studies of in total 7
Page 36 and 37: however, tended to try to distract
Page 38 and 39: other addictions According to most
Page 40 and 41: 5. risk factors of pathological gam
Page 42 and 43: different types of problem behaviou
Page 44 and 45: Corresponding interview sessions we
Page 46: later in life. Adolescents happily
Page 49 and 50: 48 Introduction By prevention the a
Page 51 and 52: 50 others and where to turn to for
Page 53 and 54: 52 • For adults who are pathologi
Page 55 and 56: 54 Appendix Table 1. A list of the
Page 57 and 58: 56 23. Ide S, Lea SE. Gambling in y
Page 59 and 60: 58 73. Slutske WS, Jackson KM, Sher
Page 61 and 62: 60 122. Evans R. Some theoretical m

Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

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