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A national survey of nearly 1,700 Americans ages 13–28 found that 52.5% had gambled in the past year, according to Partnership to End Addiction. Among those who gambled, 39.5% showed some level of gambling-related risk and 10.3% were classified as high risk for problem gambling.
The Center for Gambling Studies at the Rutgers School of Social Work examined participation in 21 activities, including bingo, raffles, games of skill, sports betting, cryptocurrency trading, e-sports betting and prediction-market trading.
Family gambling linked to higher risk
Among respondents ages 13–17, 42.7% reported gambling in the past year, often through bingo, raffles and games of skill. About 11% of adolescents who gambled were classified as high risk for problems.
Respondents who believed a household member had a gambling problem were more than five times as likely to be classified as high-risk gamblers. Those who gambled with a family member were more than four times as likely to fall into that category.
Among adolescents classified as high risk, 75.5% had a family member who gambled, and 61.2% had gambled with a family member. These findings describe associations rather than establish that family gambling caused the reported risk.
Researchers call for earlier prevention and broader oversight
About 40% of respondents who bet on prediction markets and 41% of social casino game players were classified as high-risk problem gamblers. High-risk respondents participated in an average of 6.7 activities, compared with 2.7 among gamblers without problems.
More than half of high-risk respondents reported anxiety, while 38.4% reported depression.
Researchers recommended beginning prevention education in middle school and strengthening oversight of emerging gambling-like products that fall outside conventional safeguards. They also recommended a federal gambling regulatory agency to establish national minimum standards.
Another recommendation was to create an office for problem gambling within the National Institutes of Health, with community partnerships in low-income communities to support prevention and treatment where risk is highest.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-888-BETSOFF for free counseling and information.
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Source: As reported by Partnership to End Addiction.
This article was created with the assistance of AI and is monitored by our editorial team.
