EU report shows big differences in teenage gambling participation across Europe
The EUDA is concerned about changing patterns in gambling behaviour among male teenagers.
Portugal.- The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) has raised concerns about changing patterns in gambling among male teenagers. In its eighth European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), it says gambling is a growing behavioural risk that merits the same attention as substance use.
Across the 37 countries involved in the survey, researchers found that 23 per cent of students reported gambling for money in the past 12 months: 30 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls. That makes gambling still far less prevalent than alcohol and tobacco, and closer to cannabis. However, the report argues that the depth of engagement and potential for harm is higher than in some other behaviours.
Among those who gambled, around 5 per cent met the criteria for problematic or excessive gambling according to the Lie/Bet screening tool. The number rose as high as 9 per cent for male students in some countries.
The report suggests that, unlike with substance use, teenage gambling tends not to get early detection since it often occurs on smartphones and via unregulated betting platforms. The problem gambling rate identified is just shy of the rate found for high cannabis, which the report suggests means that it deserves to be made a priority in youth risk-prevention policies.
There were considerable differences across the countries surveyed. Those with the highest participation in gambling among adolescents were Italy (45 per cent), Iceland (41 per cent) and Greece (36 per cent). Lithuania and Cyprus also had high participation rates at around 35 per cent.
In contrast, Sweden, Iceland and Norway showed participation of under 15 per cent and Georgia just 9.5 per cent.
The report is based on responses from over 113,000 students aged 15 to 16, but the EUDA recognised that like-for-like comparisons among countries are difficult considering the wide range in different social and regulatory contexts as well as different data collection methods.
The report also highlights changes in the form of gambling among teenagers and in its perception. Online gambling platforms and mobile betting apps are now more popular than traditional methods, with around 65 per cent of students who gamble now doing so on online platforms exclusively or alongside land-based gambling. Teenagers are also engaging more regularly with social games and loot boxes in video games.
