Rutgers Survey Finds Gambling Risk Among Teens as Young as 13

State of Play’s TL;DR

• Rutgers researchers found that 42.7% of US teens ages 13 to 17 reported gambling in the past year.
• Researchers classified about 11% of teenage gamblers ages 13 to 17 as high risk for gambling problems.
• Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies Director Lia Nower called for gambling-harm prevention to begin before adulthood.

Researchers at the Rutgers School of Social Work’s Center for Gambling Studies found gambling participation and problem gambling risk among Americans as young as 13.

The national survey of 1,677 people ages 13 to 27 found that 52.5% reported gambling in the past year.

The findings extend beyond online casino play and sports betting. According to rutgers.edu, researchers examined 21 activities, including bingo, raffles, games of skill, cryptocurrency trading, esports betting, and prediction markets.

Gambling symptoms among young respondents

Among respondents who gambled in the past year, 39.5% showed some symptoms of problem gambling, and 10.3% were classified as high-risk problem gamblers. Across all respondents, including those who had not gambled, 5.4% were classified as high risk.

For teenagers ages 13 to 17, 42.7% reported past-year gambling. About 11% of gamblers in that age group were classified as high risk for problems.

RG.org reported that the nationally representative survey used NORC’s AmeriSpeak panel and ran from April 24 to July 4. The maximum margin of error was at plus or minus 3.2 percentage points overall and 6.1 points for teens.

Rutgers expert calls for earlier prevention

Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at the Rutgers School of Social Work, urged parents, educators, health professionals, and policymakers to respond to the findings.

“These findings should be a wake-up call for parents, educators, health professionals and policymakers.”

Nower called for earlier intervention.

“We cannot wait until young people reach adulthood to begin addressing gambling-related harm. By that point, we will have very high rates of problem gambling. Prevention must start earlier, screening must be broader, and public policy must recognize that the gambling environment has changed dramatically.”

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Based on reporting by rutgers.edu, newswise.com, and RG.org.