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Is Video-Game Playing a Risk Factor for Pathological Gambling in Australian Adolescents?

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Abstract

Very little research has been conducted to examine the relationship between video-game playing and gambling in adolescence. In this study, 2,669 adolescents aged 13–17 years were surveyed to obtained details of their involvement in gambling and video-game playing as well as a measure of pathological gambling (the DSM-IV-J). The results showed that, the frequency of video game playing was significantly related to pathological gambling, but that the effect size was very small and largely accounted for by the greater popularity of both activities amongst boys. There was some evidence for stronger associations between technologically similar activities, namely arcade video games and an interest in gaming machines, but other factors discussed in the paper may also account for this association. In summary, the findings suggested that playing video-games is unlikely to be a significant risk factor for pathological gambling during adolescence.

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Notes

  1. In Australia, students attend secondary school from Year 8 (age 13) to Year 12 (age 16–17 years). Students can undertake Year 12 over 2 years if they choose. The second year is called Year 13. Students in Year 13 are usually 17–18 years old.

  2. Full Mean (SD)s for the 19 significant differences are available from the author, but not reported in the text in the interests of parsimony.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by grant from the Independent Gambling Authority of South Australia and was supported by the S.A. Department for Education and Children’s Services.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Paul Delfabbro, Daniel King & Chrisi Lambos

  2. Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Stan Puglies

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  1. Paul Delfabbro
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  2. Daniel King
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  3. Chrisi Lambos
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  4. Stan Puglies
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Correspondence to Paul Delfabbro.

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Delfabbro, P., King, D., Lambos, C. et al. Is Video-Game Playing a Risk Factor for Pathological Gambling in Australian Adolescents?. J Gambl Stud 25, 391–405 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9138-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9138-8

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