College Students
Students today have lived their entire lives with legalized gambling. Society has become more and more accepting of gambling. Whether is it playing poker in a dorm room or betting on the internet, there are many opportunities for students to gamble – legal and illegal.
Most people can participate in gambling activities without developing any problems. For most college students, gambling is a recreational activity, it is fun and does not have any negative effects on the students life. For others it can develop into problem or pathological gambling.
How does gambling effect college students? Some of the following consequences can occur with problem or pathological gambling:
Why is problem gambling an issue with college students?
Reasons College Students Gamble
Opportunities for gambling have increased rapidly since the 1990’s, both nationally and in Indiana. In 1989 the State of Indiana began operating the Hoosier Lottery. River boat casinos and horse tracks were approved by the Indiana legislature in the mid‐1990s, and in 2007 the State allowed slot machines to be placed in horse parks. The advent of online gambling and the rapid growth in the popularity of poker have also added to the current environment of gambling.
2010 Indiana College Substance Use Survey
A total of 6,524 students from thirteen Indiana colleges participated in the Indiana College Substance Use Survey conducted in Spring 2010. The survey had a 10.3% response rate, with twelve schools administering the survey online and one school utilizing a paper version. Funding was provided by the Indiana Collegiate Action Network through a contract with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division of Mental Health and Addiction. The survey was conducted by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center. A complete report may be found at www.drugs.indiana.edu/data-survey_icsus.html.
Gambling Behaviors
Opportunities for gambling have increased rapidly since the 1990’s, both nationally and in Indiana. In 1989 the State of Indiana began operating the Hoosier Lottery. River boat casinos and horse tracks were approved by the Indiana legislature in the mid‐1990s, and in 2007 the State allowed slot machines to be placed in horse parks. The advent of online gambling and the rapid growth in the popularity of poker have also added to the current environment of gambling.
A recent national survey of 18‐21 year olds (Barnes et al., 2010) found that 75% of the college students reported gambling in the past year, which was similar to the rate reported by the noncollege young adults surveyed. The rate of frequent gambling (weekly or more) was lower for U.S. college students (18%) than their non‐college peers (25%). Male college students reported significantly higher prevalence rates of gambling (83% vs. 67%) and frequent gambling (31% vs. 6%) than the female students. The most common form of gambling reported by Indiana students participating in the 2010 Indiana College Substance Use Survey was playing the lottery (31%), followed by playing cards at home (18%). Male Indiana students reported higher rates of gambling than female students for all gambling behaviors investigated. Over one‐third of the male students (35%) played the lottery in the past year, compared to just over one‐quarter (28%) of the female students. Almost three in ten male students (29%) played cards at home for money, compared to one in nine (11%) of the female students. Over one‐fifth of the male students (22%) gambled in betting pools and almost as many (19%) gambled at a casino. Students 21 or older reported significantly higher rates of gambling at a casino (23%), playing the lottery (36%), and gambling on‐line than the younger students. However, students under 21 reported higher rates of playing cards at home for money (19% vs. 17%) (Table 13). Students were asked how frequently they gambled to assess the level of excessive gambling. Two percent of the students played the lottery at least once a week in the past year and one percent reported playing cards at home for money at least weekly (Figure 6). The most common negative consequence of gambling reported by Indiana students was feeling bad about their gambling (5%), followed by financial issues (2%) (Table 14).
Gambling can be particularly concerning for college athletes who are already competitive. The NCAA rules outline that student athletes may not place any bets of any sort on college or professional sports and that no information may be provided to anyone who does place bets on college or professional sports. It is estimated that over 40% of male student athletes gamble on sports and over 70% of student athletes have gambled since entering college.
The NCAA has a website to help educate student-athletes, coaches, administrators and the public about NCAA rules on sports wagering: www.dontbetonit.org.
The Florida council on problem gambling (http://gamblinghelp.org/pages/who-we-serve/college-students.php) has more resources and information available.
More than six million Americans are addicted to gambling. Problem gambling among college students is characterized by:
Problem gambling among friends and loved ones may be seen by:
If you or someone you know has a problem gambling, call 1-800-994-8448.
Currently in the United States, only 22 percent of colleges and universities have formal policies on gambling. CollegeGambling.org was created by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) to bridge this gap and to provide students, campus administrators and parents with free, science-based resources for addressing gambling and gambling-related harms on campus.
The first site of its kind, CollegeGambling.org brings together the latest research and best practices in the field of addiction awareness and prevention in order to provide a substantive and versatile resource that will help schools and their students address this important issue in the way that best fits each school’s needs. http://www.collegegambling.org/about-us
Presentation
by Jackie Daniels, MSW, LCSW
Office of Alternative Screening and Intervention Services
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