Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

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Background
Adolescent Swedes gamble less and spend less money on gambling than Swedish adults, however, a
greater proportion of them are problem gamblers as compared to adults. According to one population
study, approximately five per cent of 15 to 17-year-olds gambled so much that they could be classified
as pathological gamblers or as problem gamblers, while the corresponding figure for adults was two
per cent. For some unknown reason, the risk of acquiring a gambling problem is therefore more than
twice as high for young people as for adults.
Children and young people who are growing up today are exposed to various types of gambling in
a completely different way compared to previous generations. Among other things, many hundreds of
millions of crowns are being invested on an annual basis in gaming advertising via Svenska Spel and
ATG, as well as unknown amounts by foreign gaming companies via foreign-based TV channels and
the Internet. Gambling is portrayed in the advertisements and in the mass media as a form of entertainment,
as something you do together with your friends rather than something you do to win money.
Therefore, many people, particularly young people, rarely understand the risks linked to gambling.
The effects of these campaigns are not known, but naturally they risk increasing gambling among
young people and therefore also the prevalence of gambling problems.
Furthermore, the gaming market itself has changed radically. New gambling games that are geared
towards specific groups of people are constantly being launched on the market while new media for
games has cropped up in the shape of the Internet, TV and mobile telephones, which have radically
increased accessibility. There are currently few situations or even minutes in our every day lives when
it is not possible to gamble. It is unclear how these major changes on the gaming market and the
increased exposure to gambling have affected and will affect the gambling habits of the children and
young people who are growing up today.
The Swedish National Institute of Public Health was commissioned in 2001 (Government
Communication S2001/9487/FH) to draw up a proposal for an action plan aimed at reducing the prevalence
of pathological gambling in Sweden. According to the action plan, the group children and
young people should be prioritised. Preventive measures geared towards all children and young people
must be carried out with the hope of raising the debut age for gambling and reducing gambling in the
age group. Moreover, specific measures geared towards specific risk groups of children and young
people are regarded as necessary. According to the action plan, the following measures should be
carried out:
• Informing young people, parents and the general public about the risks of children and young
people’s gambling habits.
• Informing school staff and parents about the signs of pathological gambling and what can be done
to support those who gamble too much.
• Ensuring that various social sectors are better prepared to recognise the symptoms and support
young people who are or who are becoming addicted to gambling.
• Contributing to the development of knowledge-based treatment within the framework of noninstitutional
care provided for by the psychiatric, addiction care and social services.
• Contributing to the development of knowledge centres where young pathological gamblers and
their relatives can seek treatment.
• Supporting research projects aimed at generating knowledge in the areas above.
In order to be able to carry out these measures, knowledge about the gambling of young people, about
the gambling habits of children and young people, about the risk factors of developing an addiction,
as well as knowledge about treatment and prevention are required. This review aims to map out the
existing knowledge of these areas and thus forms the first measure taken in the part of the Swedish
National Institute of Public Health action plan that is aimed at reducing pathological gambling among
young people in Sweden.