Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

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only linked to the problem/pathological gambling of the fathers. It appeared that the problem/pathological
gambling of the mothers did not form a link to the children’s ditto. Moreover, it was also
apparent that the parents’ involvement in their children’s actions had an impact on the children’s
gambling habits. The children whose parents did not have an insight into or control over what they did
in their spare time gambled more often than those with better parental control (109). The way in which
parents teach their children how to handle money and their own finances also has an impact on the
children’s gambling habits according to a further study. If parents teach their children to stick to a
budget and to save money, the children are less likely to gamble in the future (110).
parents with problems with alcohol/substance abuse
It is also more common for adolescents with a gambling problem/addiction to have a parent who
abuses alcohol or drugs (67). As previously mentioned (see prevalence of pathological gambling), a
questionnaire has been carried out in Sweden on
gambling problems at an upper secondary
school in Östersund. In this study, boys were
also asked about their parents’ alcohol/
substance abuse. The boys who reported a
probable gambling addiction tended to
have a parent who abused alcohol or drugs
as compared to the boys who were not pathological
gamblers (64).
financial situation
An Australian study examined the
socio-economic status of families and
the link with gambling habits, and
found that in marginalised families
family members gambled more, this
also applied to the adolescents. This
means that adolescents from the native
population were over-represented among
young problem gamblers in Australia (32).
Also Swedish and Norwegian studies have
found this link. It would seem that adolescents
in families with less money to spend
gamble more than other adolescents. It is also more
common for adolescents with an immigrant background to gamble often and
with high stakes, and problem and pathological gambling is also more prevalent compared
with adolescents who do not have an immigrant background (12, 17).
When it comes to the disposable income of the adolescents themselves, the opposite seems to hold
true. The more money they have to spend, the more they gamble. A Norwegian study found a link
between how many hours adolescents worked extra along side their studies and how much they
gambled – the more hours they worked, the more they gambled (9, 12, 21, 23, 108, 111).
spare time and friends
In a study by Moore and Ohtsuka in Australia, the researchers found that adolescents who had a lot of
spare time and above all unstructured spare time gambled more than others (15). Many studies indicate
that adolescents often choose to gamble together with their friends as a social activity. American and
Canadian studies also indicate that adolescents who are problem/pathological gamblers also often
have friends with the same problems (6, 9, 14, 67, 91, 94, 70). In his thesis, Ove Svensson describes
the family as the gambling debut arena, and that friends only take over the importance of the parents