Internet gambling among youth: Should we be concerned?

Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D.

Professor, School/Applied Child Psychology

Professor, Psychiatry

International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors

McGill University www.youthgambling.com

National Center for Responsible Gaming Las Vegas, November, 2010

Problem Severity Continuum

The new face of Internet gambling

Joe Cada, age 21, Community College dropout, winner World Series of Poker, 2009, $8.55 million

Jonathan Duhamel, age 23, University dropout, winner World Series of Poker, 2010, $8.944 million

www.pokerstars.net

Wagering via the Internet

•  Poker/card games •  Casino games •  Sports wagering •  Reality shows •  Celebrity adoptions, arrests, etc. •  Any form of contest/Political race

Adolescent Internet use…

Internet Use Media Awareness Network, 2009 •  In Canada, 99% of youth age 9-17 reported use of Internet, 94%

have Internet access at home; 61% report having high speed access

•  37% report having their own Internet connections

•  89% of grade 4 school students play games on the Internet

•  Where no household rules exist for Internet use, 74% report an adult was never present when the child was on the Internet

•  94% of students’ top 50 Internet sites include marketing material

•  Large percentage of adolescents report observing Internet gambling pop-up messages & believe they were the target (Derevensky et al., 2008)

What we know about the Internet

•  Access is widespread •  Access is inexpensive •  Internet is anonymous •  Internet is convenient •  Internet is entertaining •  Internet is used for many purposes

Prevalence Findings of Internet Wagering

•  Vary considerably •  Dependent upon method & date of data

collection •  Dependent upon population studied •  Difficulties collecting data have been

articulated by Wood & Williams (2009)

Is Internet gambling problematic?

Some clinical evidence

Are Internet gamblers more likely to have problems?

Wood & Williams (2007) - Sample of on-line adult gamblers

•  Non-problem gamblers: 34% •  At-risk gamblers: 24% •  Moderate problem gamblers: 23% •  Severe problem gamblers: 20% •  2/3 of those respondents gambling on the

Internet are likely to have problems

Two Internet gambling studies 2004-2006

Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites Without Money in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity

N = 2205

Internet Gambling Without Money1

Yes (n = 1082)

No (n = 1123)

Gambling Groups***

Non Gambler n = 726 33.9 66.1

Social Gambler n = 1278 56.6 43.4

At-Risk Gambler n = 129 74.4 25.6

Probable Pathological Gambler n = 72 80.6 19.4

Total 49.1 50.9

1Percentage. ***p<.001.

Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites With Money in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity

N = 2292

Internet Gambling With Money1

Yes (n = 183)

No (n = 2109)

Gambling Groups***

Non Gambler n = 745 0 100

Social Gambler n = 1333 9.5 90.5

At-Risk Gambler n = 139 21.6 78.4

Probable Pathological Gambler n = 75 34.7 65.3

Total 8.0* 92.0

1Percentage *13.1% males; 4.6% females are gambling on Internet

Follow-up study (McBride & Derevensky, 2007)

•  Montreal high-school students: N = 1113

•  Canadian and U.S. college and university students: N = 1273

•  On-line gaming newsletter link: N = 546

Use of “Demo/Practice” Sites

Gambling for Money on Internet

Gambling for Money on Internet Frequency

Gambling Severity by Sample

Reasons Youth Gamble on Internet

A new study (Meerkamper, 2010)

National Annenberg Survey of Youth (Romer, 2010)

N=835 (2008) N=596 (2010)

At least once per month

•  Internet gambling among males 14-17 rose from 2.7% (2008) to 6.2% (2010)

•  Internet gambling among males 18-22 rose from 4.4% (2008) to 16.0% (2010)

•  Internet gambling among females 14-17 rose from 0.5% (2008) to 1.5% (2010)

•  Internet gambling among males 18-22 rose from 0.0% (2008) to 4.4% (2010)

National Annenberg Survey of Youth (Romer, 2010)

N=835 (2008) N=596 (2010)

Weekly

•  Internet gambling among males 14-17 decreased from 0.9% (2008) to 0.0% (2010)

•  Internet gambling among males 18-22 rose from 2.9% (2008) to 3.8% (2010)

•  Internet gambling among females 14-17 stayed the same at 0.0% (2008) and 0.0% (2010)

•  Internet gambling among females 18-22 rose from 0.0% (2008) to 1.3% (2010)

Responsible advertising???

Celebrity endorsements….

Parental behaviors….

Parental  percep+ons:  Serious  Youth  Issues    

Issues  Impac+ng  Children    

Does the Internet contribute to problem gambling among youth?

•  There is good news and bad news •  The good news:

–  Fewer youth than adults gamble on the Internet •  The bad news:

–  More youth are playing on “demo/practice” sites than sites for real money

–  The reasons they give are “for practice” –  1/3 of the youth who are gambling for money are

problem gamblers •  Does “practice make perfect”?

–  Is it just a matter of time before the “practice” players switch to gambling for real money?

Conclusions

•  Playing on Internet gambling sites without money is a common practice amongst adolescents and young adults

•  At-Risk and PPGs play on Internet with and without money more often than non-gamblers and social gamblers

•  22% of university students who do not gamble for money (either on or off the Internet) report playing on practice sites.

•  Gateway to gambling?

•  Internet wagers for money increases with severity of gambling problems

•  Most money won and lost increases by gambling severity

•  What is not known is how the easy accessibility of practice sites and appeal of “free” gambling games contribute to development of problem gambling

Some concerns