CHAPTER TWO:
ADOLESCENT GAMBLING

            This chapter describes the prevalence of gambling, including the differences in prevalence among various segments of the population and for various forms of gambling including the lottery, casino, and other forms of gambling.  Additionally, this chapter examines factors associated with gambling including age of onset, influence of parental gambling, gambling and substance use, advertising recall, and attitudes about gambling.  The overall prevalence rates for gambling presented in this chapter are estimates derived from a probability sample, and as such are subject to a margin of error of ± 3%.  Some rates for subgroups may be associated with a slightly higher margin of error due to the smaller sample sizes.

The Prevalence of Gambling

            The majority of adolescents gamble.  Table 2.1. shows that three-quarters of Oregon adolescents have gambled at least once in their lives and 66% gambled within the last 12 months.

Table 2.1. Lifetime and One-year Gambling Prevalence Rates

(In Percent)

            Boys are significantly more likely to gamble than girls, and older youth are significantly more likely to gamble than younger youth.  Percentages reported are row percentages.  Thus, 74% of the 539 boys in the sample reported gambling last year compared to 57.1% of the 459 girls in the sample [7].  Although previous studies have shown a relationship between race and gambling (Wallisch, 1996) our sample does not bear this out.

Prevalence of Lottery Gambling

            Although most youth gamble, only one-third of the sample reported gambling on the lottery in the 12 months prior to the survey.  Table 2.2 shows the rates of lottery playing.  The patterns of lottery play are similar to gambling overall: Boys and older adolescents are more likely to play the lottery than are girls and younger adolescents.

Table 2.2. Lottery Gambling

(In Percent)

            Table 2.3 identifies the most popular lottery games for 13 to 17 year olds.  Nearly 23% of the sample reported playing scratch-off tickets; Sports Action and Keno, respectively, are the next most popular lottery games, however, less the 10% of the sampled played either of these games.

Table 2.3. Lottery Gambling by Game

(In Percent)

            Although minors are not legally allowed to purchase lottery tickets, approximately 35% of those who had gambled on the lottery indicated they had done so in the 12 months preceding the survey (see Table 2.4).  Most of the illegally purchased lottery tickets were purchased in grocery stores.  The majority of young lottery players, however, obtain the tickets from family members (50%).

Table 2.4. Where Lottery Tickets are Obtained

(In Percent)

Prevalence of Casino Gambling

            Table 2.5 shows the rates of reported illegal casino gambling.  Approximately 19% of the sample reported betting money at a casino at least once in their life and approximately 12% (± 2) of the sample did so last year.

Table 2.5. Casino Gambling

(In Percent)

            The pattern of casino gambling is somewhat different than other forms of gambling.  For example, teenage girls reported gambling in casinos as often as did boys.  Although there is a trend towards older youth gambling in casinos more often that their younger counterparts, it is not statistically significant.  Non-Anglos were significantly more likely to have gambled at a casino at least once in their lives, however, the one-year rates were not significantly higher.  Surprisingly, about half of the casino gambling is done outside of Oregon.  Of those who reported gambling in a casino at least once in the last 12 months, 51% reported doing so outside Oregon.  The remaining 49% reported gambling in a casino in Oregon.

Prevalence of Other Gambling Activities

            Other gambling activities in which adolescents commonly engaged included purchasing raffle tickets, betting on sports with friends or relatives, and playing cards for money (see Table 2.7).  In fact, as Table 2.6 indicates, youth were more likely to participate in these other forms of gambling than play the lottery or gamble in a casino.

Table 2.6. Other Gambling Activities

(In Percent)