Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

40
Introduction
Studying and determining the factors that increase the risk of gambling problems in young people is
a very important area of research. If we know the risk factors of problem/pathological gambling, it
will increase our chances of understanding the mechanisms behind the development of pathological
gambling. If we know what the mechanisms are, we can plan interventions, measures and not least
preventive action in order to avoid the risk factors in the first place, or at least to reduce their importance
for the development of pathological gambling.
The previous section described a number of problems that are associated with problem/pathological
gambling in adolescents. In everyday speech these associated problems are often rather carelessly
called risk factors of gambling problems since they exist in one and the same individual simultaneously.
We tend to conclude that they have generated each other or that the presence of one problem has been
the cause of the presence of the other. The presence of these problems in an adolescent does not,
however, necessarily increase the risk of him/her having a gambling problem/addiction, in other
words it is not certain that alcohol abuse for instance increases the risk of starting to gamble too
much. It may also be the case, in fact often is the case, that two associated factors, for example alcohol
abuse and a gambling problem are both determined by a third factor that increases the risk of both
these types of behaviour. An example of a third factor of this kind would be impulsivity. In this
example, it would mean that alcohol abuse and a gambling problem are not risk factors of each other,
even if they are associated, instead the risk factor is impulsivity. In order to understand which factors
increase the risk of developing problem/pathological gambling, you cannot just examine the types of
behaviour that are associated with these problems and whether these occur in an individual the moment
you start studying him/her. Instead, in order to establish risk factors and their impact on pathological
gambling for instance you need to study the circumstances and the behaviour of the individual over time
and see how these circumstances and this behaviour have an impact on what it is you wish to study.
A couple of fundamental pre-conditions must exist for a risk factor to be called a risk factor:
• A risk factor must emerge before the problem it is supposed to be a risk of. If alcohol abuse, for
instance, is to be called a risk factor of problem gambling it must have existed before the development
of the gambling problem.
• There must be a direct or indirect causal relationship between the risk factor and the problem it
increases the risk of. In other words, if the risk factor increases or decreases, the problem it is said
to be a risk factor of must also increase or decrease. This may occur directly or by the risk factor
affecting other factors, which in turn have an impact on the problem that is being studying. If alcohol
abuse is a risk factor of pathological gambling, the gambling must decrease if the consumption
of alcohol decreases.
It is difficult to study risk factors since the analyses rapidly become very complex. Moreover, you
need to study an individual over long periods of time and examine how the outcome is affected by
various consequences, events and factors either separately or together in order to know where the risk
factors lie and what they are. Studies of that kind are naturally both complex and expensive to conduct
which is why they are not very common.
Risk factors can in turn be divided into different types or classes. A classification system of risk
factors as defined by Sven Andréasson at the Swedish National Institute of Public Health in a report
on the prevention of alcohol abuse is used in this review (101). Risk factors are divided into individual
factors, social network factors and social factors in Andréasson’s report. The individual factors consist
of, for example, biological and psychological factors, including genetics, behavioural patterns and
personality. Social network factors include relationships and structures in the local social environment,
for example your family, upbringing, friends, school and spare time activities. Finally, social
factors include laws and regulations, attitudes and norms in society that may have an impact on the
gambling habits of adolescents.
Knowledge about risk factors from all the risk factor groups is still fairly limited in research on
pathological gambling in adolescents. No studies have been found on social factors, while there are a
couple of studies on the individual and social network factors. Some studies have also look into how