Middle School Students and Gambling
Because gambling and addiction often go hand in hand, a recent study was aimed at examining the link between substance abuse and gambling in middle school age students. The study, published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics followed 1,325 students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Interestingly, all of the students who participated in the study were also part of the school’s drug and alcohol prevention program.
The students were surveyed about their drug and alcohol use as well as their gambling behaviors including: online betting, scratch lottery tickets and/or played video poker.
Although many view gambling as an adult behavior, the study results surprisingly indicated that there was a high rate of gambling in this middle school age group. In fact, around 35 percent of girls and 46 percent of boys in eighth grade participated in some sort of gambling. The most common form of gambling was scratch lottery tickets. Further, those who reported gambling also indicated a higher rate of substance use. The study reported that about 60 percent of the gambling students smoked cigarettes, 63 percent smoke marijuana and 73 percent consumed alcohol.
Because other studies involving older participants also link gambling and substance use disorders, more research is needed to implement prevention at younger ages to discourage these addictive behaviors.
source: journals.lww.com