Weapon-carrying is associated with more permissive gambling attitudes and perceptions and at-risk/problem gambling in adolescents

• Published in: Journal of behavioral addictions 2019-09, Vol.8 (3), p.508-521
• Main Authors: Zhai, Zu Wei, Hoff, Rani A, Magruder, Caitlin F, Steinberg, Marvin A, Wampler, Jeremy, Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra, Potenza, Marc N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - physiology; Analysis; Attitude; Behaviorism; Family relations; Female; Full-Length Report; Gambling - physiopathology; High schools; Humans; Male; Parent-child relations; Parenting; Parents; Risk; Severity of Illness Index; Social support; Violence; Weapons; Youth
• ISSN: 2062-5871; 2063-5303
• DOI: 10.1556/2006.8.2019.42

Background and aims. A recent call to action highlighted the need to understand the relationship between problem gambling, violence, and health/functioning. As weapon-carrying and gambling behaviors are prevalent in adolescents, this study systematically examined relationships between weapon-carrying status and measures of problem gambling severity and gambling perceptions and attitudes, as well as how weapon-carrying status moderated relationships between problem gambling severity and measures of health/functioning and gambling behavior. Methods. Participants were 2,301 Connecticut high-school adolescents. χ2 and logistic regression models were conducted. Results. Weapon-carriers reported greater problem gambling severity, more permissive gambling perceptions, greater parental approval of gambling, and more family gambling concerns, compared to non-weapon-carriers. At-risk/problem gambling was more strongly associated with family, peers, and adult gambling partners among non-weapon-carriers (vs. weapon-carriers) and with machine gambling among weapon-carriers (vs. non-weapon-carriers). Discussion and conclusions. Greater problem gambling severity and more permissive gambling perceptions and perceived parental approval of gambling in weapon-carrying adolescents suggest that parent–child relationships are important to be considered in prevention efforts. The moderated relationship by weapon-carrying status between problem gambling severity and gambling partners suggests a problem gambling risk group that may be less linked to gambling with traditional social support groups, and this group may benefit from targeted interventions