Renée A. St-Pierre

Teacher Awareness and Attitudes Regarding Adolescent Risky Behaviours: Is Adolescent Gambling Perceived to be a Problem?

Despite legislative prohibitions, there is empirical evidence that youth gamble on both regulated and unregulated activities. The current survey was designed to assess teachers’ awareness and attitudes regarding adolescent gambling and other high-risk behaviours. Three-hundred and ninety teachers from Ontario and Quebec, with experience teaching students aged 12–18, completed an online survey. Results suggest that teachers are aware of the fact that youth gamble. Furthermore, they recognized the addictive nature of gambling and their subsequent consequences. Despite overestimating the proportion of youth experiencing gambling problems, gambling was viewed as being the least serious of issues affecting youth, with drug use and school violence topping the list. Almost half of respondents indicated that gambling in school can constitute a good learning activity. In regards to prevention, all other risky behaviours and academic problems were perceived as issues needing greater attention than gambling. These results, which are largely consistent with findings from a previous study examining parental perceptions of adolescent risky behaviours, suggest a need for greater awareness and teacher education.

Setting Win Limits: An Alternative Approach to “Responsible Gambling”?

Social scientists, governments, and the casino industry have all emphasized the need for casino patrons to “gamble responsibly.” Strategies for responsible gambling include self-imposed time limits and loss limits on gambling. Such strategies help prevent people from losing more than they can afford and may help prevent excessive gambling behavior. Yet, loss limits also make it more likely that casino patrons leave when they are losing. Oddly, the literature makes no mention of “win limits” as a potential approach to responsible gambling. A win limit would be similar to a loss limit, except the gambler would leave the casino upon reaching a pre-set level of winnings. We anticipate that a self-imposed win limit will reduce the gambler’s average loss and, by default, also reduce the casino’s profit. We test the effect of a self-imposed win limit by running slot machine simulations in which the treatment group of players has self-imposed and self-enforced win and loss limits, while the control group has a self-imposed loss limit or no limit. We find that the results conform to our expectations: the win limit results in improved player performance and reduced casino profits. Additional research is needed, however, to determine whether win limits could be a useful component of a responsible gambling strategy.

Predicting Gambling Problems from Gambling Outcome Expectancies in College Student-Athletes

While previous research has suggested the potential importance of gambling outcome expectancies in determining gambling behaviour among adolescents, the predictive ability of gambling outcome expectancies has not yet been clearly delineated for college-aged youth. The current study aims to explore the relationships between gender and outcome expectancies in the prediction of gambling severity among college student-athletes. Data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) study assessing gambling behaviours and problems among U.S. college student-athletes were utilized. Complete data was available for 7,517 student-athletes. As expected, male college student-athletes reported more gambling participation as well as greater gambling problems than their female counterparts. Findings showed positive relationships between the outcome expectancies of financial gain, and negative emotional impacts and gambling problems. That is, those who endorsed more items on the outcome expectancy scales for financial gain and negative emotional impacts also tended to endorse more gambling-related problems. Findings also showed a negative relationship between outcome expectancies of fun and enjoyment, and gambling problems over and above the variance accounted for by gender. Those with gambling problems were less likely to have the expectation that gambling would be fun than those without gambling problems. Despite NCAA efforts to curb gambling activity, the results suggest that college student-athletes are at risk for over-involvement in gambling. Therefore, it is important to explore gambling outcome expectancies within this group since the motivations and reasons for gambling might be able to inform treatment initiatives.

Beliefs and Attitudes of Mental Health Professionals with Respect to Gambling and Other High Risk Behaviors in Schools

Studies have shown that mental health service provider perceptions of problems and knowledge of resources are among the largest determinants of service provision and referral. The current study aims at exploring mental health professionals’ awareness of, attitudes towards and beliefs regarding high-risk behaviors in youth, including gambling. Child psychologists, social workers, and psychoeducators (n = 649) responded to an online survey. Findings revealed that problem gambling was viewed by most professionals as the least serious adolescent risk behavior, and few reported feeling confident in their abilities to deal with youth with gambling problems. However, the majority of professionals felt that they have a significant role to play in the prevention of youth gambling problems, and many endorsed strong interest in receiving continuing education in the prevention, identification, and treatment of problem gambling. Results highlight the importance of continued efforts in increasing awareness regarding youth problematic gambling, as well as the need for greater continuing education training on adolescent gambling for mental health professionals.

Theory of Planned Behavior in School-Based Adolescent Problem Gambling Prevention: A Conceptual Framework

Given its serious implications for psychological and socio-emotional health, the prevention of problem gambling among adolescents is increasingly acknowledged as an area requiring attention. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is a well-established model of behavior change that has been studied in the development and evaluation of primary preventive interventions aimed at modifying cognitions and behavior. However, the utility of the TPB has yet to be explored as a framework for the development of adolescent problem gambling prevention initiatives. This paper first examines the existing empirical literature addressing the effectiveness of school-based primary prevention programs for adolescent gambling. Given the limitations of existing programs, we then present a conceptual framework for the integration of the TPB in the development of effective problem gambling preventive interventions. The paper describes the TPB, demonstrates how the framework has been applied to gambling behavior, and reviews the strengths and limitations of the model for the design of primary prevention initiatives targeting adolescent risk and addictive behaviors, including adolescent gambling.

Precocious Initiation into Smoking, Alcohol Use, and Gambling among Children with Conduct Problems

Objective: Adolescent participation in risky and addictive behaviours, such as smoking, substance use, and gambling has the potential to lead to many serious problems. The presence of conduct problems (CPs) and early initiation into risky and addictive behaviours have been independently shown to be associated with adolescent and young adult smoking, drinking, and gambling. Nevertheless, the relation between early initiation into risky and addictive behaviours and CPs remains to be explored among pre-adolescents. Our study aims to examine the prospective relation between CPs in early primary school and pre-adolescent initiation into smoking, alcohol use, and gambling. Method: Our study used data from participants in an ongoing prospective, longitudinal study at the Université de Sherbrooke to examine cigarette, alcohol, and gambling initiation among primary school-aged boys and girls with CPs. Children were recruited between the ages of 6 and 9 years from several low socioeconomic status public schools in diverse geographical regions of Quebec. Initiation into cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling was measured 1 year later. Results: Children with CPs were found to be at greater risk for early initiation into smoking, alcohol, and gambling. These effects remained even once other known risk factors, such as poor parental supervision and child effortful control, were controlled for. Conclusions: These results suggest that CPs present in early elementary school can predict early initiation in to potentially addictive behaviours among boys and girls. Implications for targeted preventive intervention are discussed.

Youth Gambling Behavior: Novel Approaches to Prevention and Intervention

While gambling has been traditionally viewed as an adult activity there has been a growing body of research suggesting its popularity amongst adolescents. Despite findings that suggest that most youth gamble in a relatively responsible manner and have few negative gambling-related behaviors there is strong evidence that they constitute a vulnerable group for gambling disorders. The current paper addresses our current knowledge concerning the prevention of youth gambling problems and provides new potential strategies for helping young individuals experiencing a gambling disorder. While the research lacks strong evidence for best practices, a number of novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of gambling disorders for youth are discussed.