Gambling and Problem Gambling Across the Lifespan

Two national U.S. telephone surveys of gambling were conducted, an adult survey (age 18 and over, N  = 2,631) in 1999–2000 and a youth (age 14–21, N  = 2,274) survey in 2005–2007. The data from these surveys were combined to examine the prevalence of any gambling, frequent gambling and problem gambl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of gambling studies 2011-03, Vol.27 (1), p.49-61
Main Authors: Welte, John W., Barnes, Grace M., Tidwell, Marie-Cecile O., Hoffman, Joseph H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Adult
Adults
Age
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Age patterns
Alcohol
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol Drinking - psychology
Behavior
Child development
Community and Environmental Psychology
Comorbidity
Economics
Female
Gambling
Gambling - epidemiology
Gambling - psychology
Humans
Life span
Life Style
Male
Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Older people
Original Paper
Pathological gambling
Polls & surveys
Prevalence
Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
Risk-Taking
Smoking - epidemiology
Smoking - psychology
Sociology
Studies
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teenagers
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:Two national U.S. telephone surveys of gambling were conducted, an adult survey (age 18 and over, N  = 2,631) in 1999–2000 and a youth (age 14–21, N  = 2,274) survey in 2005–2007. The data from these surveys were combined to examine the prevalence of any gambling, frequent gambling and problem gambling across the lifespan. These types of gambling involvement increased in frequency during the teens, reached a high level in the respondents’ 20s and 30s, and then fell off in as the respondents aged. The notion that gambling involvement generally, and especially problem gambling, is most prevalent during the teens was not supported. A comparison of the age patterns of gambling involvement and alcohol involvement showed that alcohol involvement peaks at a younger age than gambling involvement; and thus, the theory that deviant behaviors peak at an early age applies more to alcohol than to gambling.
ISSN:1573-3602
1050-5350
1573-3602
DOI:10.1007/s10899-010-9195-z