The gestation and birth of legislation prohibiting the sale of lottery tickets to Israeli minors: some social policy issues

Differences Between Illegal and Legal Gamblers in Israel: Gambling Behavior, Motivation, and Substance Use

Little is known about people who gamble in illegal settings, and the extent of differences in gambling behavior between legal and illegal gamblers is unclear. The present study examined the characteristics of illegal gamblers and whether they engage in more frequent and severe gambling behaviors, and demonstrate greater motivation for gambling and substance use than legal gamblers. A cross-sectional online survey recruited 1251 people who gambled in the preceding year, of whom 13% (N = 161) participated in illegal gambling. Significant differences were found in gambling behaviors between illegal and legal gamblers in all outcomes examined. People who participated in illegal gambling reported more frequent participation in almost all types of legal gambling, more types of "multi-bets," more severe and high-risk gambling behaviors, higher motivations to gamble, and higher frequencies of substance use than those who engaged in legal gambling. Logistic regressions revealed that the stronger associations with illegal gambling were among problem gamblers (OR = 17.80; CI 9.21-34.4; p < 0.000), among the age group of 29-41 years (OR = 6.16; CI 3.15-12.3; p < 0.000), among moderate-risk gamblers (OR = 5.54; CI 3.42-3.42; p < 0.000) and among secular individuals (OR = 4.11; CI 1.73-9.77; p ≤ 0.001). A comprehensive gambling policy is needed in Israel to address illegal gambling. The policy should attend to harm reduction, treatment, prevention, and enforcement. Additionally, more studies are needed to examine gambling behavior and other risk behaviors of illegal gamblers.

Adolescent gambling: a review of an emerging field of research

PURPOSE

The purpose of this review was to summarize the research on adolescent gambling with implications for research and prevention or intervention.

METHOD

The methodology involved a comprehensive and systematic search of "adolescent or youth gambling" in three diverse electronic databases (MedlineAdvanced, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts) and three peer-reviewed journals (International Journal of Gambling Studies, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, and Journal of Gambling Issues).

RESULTS

The search resulted in 137 articles (1985-2010) focusing on gambling among youth aged between 9 and 21 years: 103 quantitative, 8 qualitative, and 26 non-empirical. The study of adolescent gambling can be summarized as follows: (a) it is conducted by a relatively small group of researchers in Britain, Canada, and the United States; (b) it is primarily prevalence-focused, quantitative, descriptive, school-based, and atheoretical; (c) it has most often been published in the Journal of Gambling Studies; (d) it is most often examined in relation to alcohol use; (e) it has relatively few valid and reliable screening instruments that are developmentally appropriate for adolescents, and (f) it lacks racially diverse samples.

CONCLUSION

Four recommendations are presented for both research and prevention or intervention which are as follows: (1) to provide greater attention to the development and validation of survey instruments or diagnostic criteria to assess adolescent problem gambling; (2) to begin to develop and test more gambling prevention or intervention strategies; (3) to not only examine the co-morbidity of gambling and alcohol abuse, but also include other behaviors such as sexual activity; and (4) to pay greater attention to racial and ethnic differences in the study of adolescent gambling.