Psychological Reports, 1991, 68, 946.

O Psychological Reports 1991

TEENAGE GAMBLING: A PILOT STUDY' J. C. TROTT Deuon & Cornwall Constabulnry

MARK GRIFFITHS Polytechnic South West

Summary.-Structured interviews were conducted of 40 gamblers between 17 and 24 years of age. They were males who reported playing 3 or more times per week and spending E l to £4 per session. Many were unemployed or at school.

According to Griffiths (1989) there has been little systematic investigation of adolescent gambling, and those studies which have been carried out suggest that most regular gamblers are males aged between 16 and 25 years who gamble primarily on fruit slot-machines. It is also alleged that a minority of these adolescents are pathological gamblers. The present study involved using a structured questionnaire to interview fruit machine players outside of an amusement arcade in Exeter (southwest England). During research periods, every young person encering the arcade was approached (51 males and 2 females). Of these, 40 gamblers (all male aged between 17 and 24 agreed to take part in the study. This constituted a 75% response rate. Of the 40 subjects, 30 were employed (10 part-time only), 5 were unemployed, and 5 were still at school; 20 were aged 18 years or under, the remainder being 19 years or older. Regular gamblers, defined as those who gambled three or more times a week, constituted 62.5% of the sample. It was found that 50% of the 17- to 18-yr-olds and 75% of the 19- to 24-yr.-olds were regular gamblers as were all those who were unemployed or at school (this was because they "have more time to playu or there was "nothing else to do"). I n terms of money spent per gambling session, those under 18 years spent between €1-€4, with 66% of them spending between €2-£4. Those over 18 years spent more per session with 40% spending between €1-£2, 20% spending € 2 4 4 , and 40% spending £4 or more every session. Considering regular gamblers play at least three times a week, this is a costly activity in terms of both time and money for some individuals; however, only one person admitted stealing money regularly to fund the gambling and only two people claimed they were "addicted." This small study confirms that regular fruit slot-machine playing in adolescence is a male-dominated activity, and that, maybe for a small minority of these gamblers, their gambling leads to dependency. REFERENCE

GRIFFITHS,M. D. (1989)

Gambling in children and adolescents. Journal of Gambling

Behaviou< 5, 66-83. Accepted May 22, 1391

'Reprint requests should be sent to Mark Griffiths, Psychology Department, Polytechnic South West, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, England.

Teenage gambling: a pilot study.

Structured interviews were conducted of 40 gamblers between 17 and 24 years of age. They were males who reported playing 3 or more times per week and ...
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