Young poker faces: compliance with the legal age limit on multiple gambling products in the Netherlands

A Perspective on Age Restrictions and Other Harm Reduction Approaches Targeting Youth Online Gambling, Considering Convergences of Gambling and Videogaming

Internet gambling has become a popular activity among some youth. Vulnerable youth may be particularly at risk due to limited harm reduction and enforcement measures. This article explores age restrictions and other harm reduction measures relating to youth and young adult online gambling. A systematic rapid review was conducted by searching eight databases. Additional articles on online gambling (e.g., from references) were later included. To place this perspective into context, articles on adult gambling, land-based gambling, and substance use and other problematic behaviors were also considered. Several studies show promising findings for legally restricting youth from gambling in that such restrictions may reduce the amount of youth gambling and gambling-related harms. However, simply labeling an activity as "age-restricted" may not deter youth from gambling; in some instances, it may generate increased appeal for gambling. Therefore, advertising and warning labels should be examined in conjunction with age restrictions. Recommendations for age enforcement strategies, advertising, education, and warning labels are made to help multiple stakeholders including policymakers and public health officials internationally. Age restrictions in online gambling should consider multiple populations including youth and young adults. Prevention and harm reduction in gambling should examine how age-restriction strategies may affect problem gambling and how they may be best enforced across gambling platforms. More research is needed to protect youth with respect to online gambling.

Demographic Risk Factors and Gambling Preference May Not Explain the High Prevalence of Gambling Problems Among the Population with Migration Background: Results from a German Nationwide Survey

There are high proportions of problem gamblers among individuals who themselves or whose parents immigrated to Germany. This study aimed to examine whether demographic risk factors and gambling preference may explain the higher prevalence of gambling problems among those with migration background (MB). Data was obtained from a nationwide telephone survey which was part of the project "Pathological Gambling and Epidemiology" (PAGE). The sample comprised 15,023 study participants aged 14-64 years living in Germany. Participants who had reported gambling within their lifetime (n = 6,406) were defined as gamblers and categorized according to their MB (n = 1,209 with MB), additional demographic characteristics (sex, age, marital status, household size, education, occupation), preferred types of gambling (21 categories covering the gambling types available in Germany), and the count of lifetime gambling problem symptoms (0-10 criteria of the fourth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Estimates from a negative binomial regression revealed that there is a 146.2% increase in the expected count of gambling problem symptoms for gamblers with MB compared to those without MB. The percentage decreased to 102.5 and 97.6% after adjustment for demographic characteristics and further adjustment for preferred types of gambling, respectively. Demographic risk factors and gambling preference may partially mediate but not completely explain the higher prevalence of gambling problems among the population with MB. Having an MB may be considered as an independent risk factor for gambling problems, which indicates a need for culturally sensitive prevention and treatment measures.

Psychosoziale Risikoindikatoren regelmäßiger und riskanter Glücksspielnutzung im Jugendalter

Mit der vorliegenden Studie werden die regelmäßige, riskante und problematische Glücksspielnutzung sowie psychosoziale Risikoindikatoren des Glücksspielkonsums im Jugendalter untersucht. Datengrundlage bildet eine für Niedersachsen repräsentative Dunkelfeldbefragung mit 11 003 Neuntklässlern. Zur Klassifikation wurde der Glücksspiel-Screen DSM-IV-MR-J eingesetzt. Auf Basis theoretisch abgeleiteter Risikoindikatoren aus den Bereichen Soziodemographie, Person, Freizeit-, Problemverhalten, Familie, Peers und Schule/Nachbarschaft wurden binär logistische Mehrebenen-Regressionsanalysen zur Vorhersage regelmäßiger und riskanter Glücksspielnutzung durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Glücksspielverhalten bei Jugendlichen von kommerziellen Angeboten dominiert wird. 3.5 % der Jugendlichen weisen eine regelmäßige, 1.1 % eine riskante und 0.3 % eine problematische Glücksspielnutzung auf. Jungen sind in allen glücksspielaffinen Gruppen deutlich stärker vertreten. Bedeutsame Prädiktorvariablen für regelmäßige und riskante Glücksspielnutzung sind neben dem Geschlecht und dem Migrationshintergrund, eine erhöhte Gewaltakzeptanz und eine Sportvereinsmitgliedschaft. Alkohol- und Drogenkonsum sowie insbesondere der Freundeskreis prädizieren ein regelmäßiges Glücksspielverhalten, während Gewalttäterschaft sowie Variablen aus dem Bereich Schule/Nachbarschaft ein riskantes Glücksspielverhalten vorhersagen.