Gambling among Adolescents in North America Essay Example for Free

Gambling among Adolescents in North America EssayLottery, card games, sports betting and money wagers. These atomic number 18 a few kinds of looseness that adults engage in however, the youth of today atomic number 18 also imbed to be dramatic play more than adults (Der scoursky Gupta, 2002 Huang Boyer, 2007). According to Derevensky Gupta (2002), there is an alarmingly high percentage of churlren and teenageds move in gambling activities.In a long-term analysis mingled with 1984 to 1999, it was found that the prevalence of youth gambling in North America incr solaced from 45% to 66% and that the proportion of the youth who have serious gambling-related tasks have amplifyd as well from 10% to 15% in the same time finale (Huang Boyer, 2007). In the past 25 years in the United States and Canada, it has been found that the youth is significantly associated with gambling-related riddles the percentage of youth classified under the Sub-clinical or problem gambling (L evel 2) and the morbid gambling (Level 3) were at 14. 6% and 4. 8% respectively in 2006, which is more than twice of the adults who only have a percentage of 2. 5% and 1. 5% each (ibid).Among the youth, it has also been found that more preteen men pretend more than women and they atomic number 18 also identified to be problem gamblers than young women and even among adults (Huang Boyer, 2007). In North America today, approximately 80% of adolescents have participated in some form of gambling for money within in their deportment (Felsher, Derevensky Gupta, 2003 Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). This is an alarming rate.The number of youth who are engaged in adolescent gambling is higher today more than ever before and it is starting to snuff it a serious public health issue that many nations, especially the United States and Canada, are trying to address (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). Considerable research by psychologist and sociologists are organism conducted regarding this p roblem. This paper go out identify the ca customs of adolescent gambling, its consequences and what psychologists and the government are doing to treat this issue. Causes of Adolescent GamblingThe availability and accessibility of gambling increase progressively in the United States and Canada from 1984-1999, which was also the time that an increase in youth gambling also occurred (Derevensky Gupta, 2002). This increase in youth gambling has been attributed to the support of the cardinal governments in the lucrative gambling industry. Political economy theories of Sauer maintain that this is due to the need for revenue generation of the large governments (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). The youth have become heart-to-heart to numerous gambling establishments, directly and indirectly (Felsher et al, 2003).The widespread legalization of the different kinds of gambling in North America has greatly exposed the youth to the habit-forming game (ibid Huang Boyer, 2007). Gambling has already become a well-established recreational form of entertainment (Felsher et al, 2003) and there is already an estimated 15. 3million adolescents in North America who have engaged in gambling activities and 2. 2 million of these are problem or pathological gamblers (Huang Boyer, 2007). Among 12-17 year old Americans, 4%8% of them are already pathological gamblers and some other 10%15% of the youth are at try of developing a serious problem (Felsher et al., 2003 Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). Adolescents gamble because they are tempted by the provoke of excitement, entertainment, and potential financial gain associated with gambling (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). Increased exposure to gambling will teach the kids to gamble, and the genial learning theory of Albert Bandura points out the role of honoring and imitation in the acquisition and maintenance of kindlyly desirable and undesirable characteristics (Felsher et al., 2003). The increased exposure they have in gambling influences them to do the same. Family and friends are the native wing groups, but it is the parents who have a stronger influence since they occur earlier than the peer group (ibid). The parents are observed to be having fun and adolescents surveyed said they gamble because their parents play for enjoyment and excitement, and it is the parents who play their children and engage them in gambling (ibid).In the sociable learning theory, there are six mechanisms identified that is involved in the development of gambling and these are 1) affective states such as anxiety or depression 2) cognitive distortions about gambling 3) expressional reinforcement schedules 4) tender and institutional determinants such as opportunity to gamble 5) sub-cultural conditions like prevailing attitude towards gambling and values of the adolescents social context and reference groups (as seen in the preceding paragraph) and 6) internal fantasy relationships with personifications like the parents or la dy luck (Upfold, 2007).Lottery is the most favored form of gambling by adolescents because of its ease of accessibility and the minimal amount of money required to participate in the draw (Felsher et al. , 2003). Parents purchase the lottery tickets and they include their children in their gambling activity by asking for their advice, such as what number/s they should pick, let them carry the money, fill in the lottery stubs, scratching the numbers, etc. (ibid). This observation and direct involution of gambling from significant reference groups, such as the parents, influences the youths participation in gambling activities (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005).The parental acceptance of gambling as a recreational activity further encourages the youth to partake in it (Felsher et al. , 2003). Adolescents who gamble say that they have learned it from their parents. 15% of children made first bet with their parents and a nonher 20% with other family members (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). Parents gamble in close proximity to their children and they have a paltry understanding of the contradict consequences that this will have on their child (ibid). The Cognitive-Behavioral Model, which is part of the social-learning theory, may explain this cause.The model is based on the principles of learning from imitation, observation, schedules of enforcement and cognition or how the youth would interpret and draw conclusions about the events around him or her (Upfold, 2007). They are enforced to gamble since the adolescents report that their parents are aware of their gambling and that they do non object to it 50% of parents are aware and are not worried, disregarding the age of the child (Felsher et al. , 2003). 58. 5% of children in the study of Felsher et al.(2003) also say that they wager money with their parents, hence they are taught to gamble some parents even purchase lottery tickets for their childs behalf and it has been found that the more severe gambling a child is doing, the more tickets there are purchased by parents. Also, adolescents who were found to be regularly gambling report that they gamble with their family members and 40% say they do it with their parents (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). Problem gambling is governed by a complex set of interrelating factors, causes, and determinants biological, familial, behavioral, social, and environmental (ibid).Under environmental, ease of access of online-gambling sites on the Internet is a new problem since the youth can easily access it and can be enticed by the visual appeals of Internet gambling (ibid). Another important reference point and part of the environmental factor which indirectly teaches gambling to children and reinforces it is the school. There are schools who fight gambling through fundraising activities including lottery, raffle draws, bingo, casino nights, and by permitting card playing within schools (ibid).Another explanation for causes of gambling is the Psychodynamic Model, which proposes that personal problems lie within the school principal and are an attempt at self-healing or a strategy of resolving unconscious psychic conflictsbeyond voluntary control, (Upfold, 2007), hence the individual continues to engage in gambling. There are three main components in this model and they are 1) Gambling is an unconscious substitute for aggressive outlets 2) Gambling involves an unconscious desire to lose- a wish to be punished in reaction to guilt and 3) Gambling is a medium for continued enactment of psychological conflict (ibid).Adolescents do not engage in gambling for money but for excitement and enjoyment through video lottery terminals, sports betting, cards, lotteries, bingo and other forms of gambling, adolescents with a gambling problem exhibit a number of dissociative behaviors such as escape into another world where they have altered egos (Derevensky Gupta, 2002).Their personality traits that are correlated with risk-taking behavior such a s excitable, extroverted, anxious and lower self-discipline show that they have poor coping and reconciling skills, so when they cannot cope with many hardships in their life or the stress of being a teenager, they gamble to escape from the realities of daily life (ibid).Gambling has been a way for adolescents who experience negative life events and use emotional-coping strategies to escape their problems, even if they have claimed to have social support from their peers (ibid Bergevin, Gupta Derevensky, 2006). The Trait Theory of Gambling is also part of the psychodynamic model and it show that there are certain personalities that is related to the problem of gambling such as depression, anti-social personality disorder- particularly for pathological gamblers, and narcissism- as seen in the compulsive gamblers (Upfold, 2007).Other identified risk factors that may lead to adolescent gambling include male gender, alcohol and drug use, deviant peers, family history of gambling, and impulsive behavior (Pietrzak, Ladd Petry, 2003). Consequences of Adolescent Gambling The consequences of adolescent gambling are somewhat similar to that of adult gamblers they not only affect themselves but society as a whole.Adolescent gambling does not only affect the individual adolescent but their families, peers, communities and health services (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). The consequences the adolescent gamblers face are widespread and affects their psychological, behavioral, legal, academic, family and interpersonal domains- they become delinquent, have poor academic performance, impair their academic performance or even drop out from school, disrupt their relationship with family and friends, and display criminal behavior (ibid).They face negative health, psychological, social, personal and financial consequences that is why gambling is becoming a public health issue (ibid). It has been found that there is a strong correlation between adolescent gambling and the increas ed likelihood to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco and use drugs (Hardoon, Gupta Derevensky, 2004). Huang Boyer (2007) also says that adolescent gamblers are more likely to experience psychiatric problems, especially substance use disorders.The common factors that lead to this among adolescents are low self-esteem, depression, suicidal thoughts, victim of abuse, poor school performance, history of delinquency, poor impulse control, being male, early onset of gambling, parental history of gambling, and community/family acceptance of gambling (ibid). This will greatly affect the future of the youth since all that they indulge in is gambling. They become dissociated from the real world and spend much of their time gambling that they do not get to develop themselves as individuals anymore.They become more supersensitive to suicide ideation and attempts, they replace their old friends with their gambling associates and they have a higher risk to develop an addiction or poly addictions (Gup ta Derevensky, 2002). In the study of Felsher et al. (2003), they found that 94% of young male gamblers and 93% of young female gamblers are not afraid to get caught. This shows their lack of concern on what may happen to them if they are caught and this may also show the acceptance of their parents.Since parents and most institutions fail to recognize gambling as a serious problem or certain activities to be gambling (Derevensky and Gupta, 2002), the adolescents are at a higher risk to further develop their gambling addiction. The course of gambling varies from one individual to another however, the social learning theory shows that since gambling behavior is acquired it can be thought of as a continuum or stages from problem-free gambling all the way to pathological gambling (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005 Upfold, 2007).Messerlian Derevensky (2005) states that as gambling escalates and one moves along the continuum of gambling risk, the negative outcomes begin to outweigh any pote ntial benefits and this is when they would start experiencing different kinds of impaired personal, health, financial and social consequences. Treatments to Adolescent Gambling The numerous psychosocial costs of gambling to the individual, his/her family and to the community shows that this is a problem that must be addressed and treated (Derevensky and Gupta, 2002).Some adolescents do not know that they have a gambling addiction or disorder and this prevents them from getting proper treatment (ibid) however, with the intervention of family, friends or event the school, the adolescent may get treated. There are several kinds of treatment for adolescents who are already problem or pathological gamblers. Before these are discussed, prevention models for gambling will be discussed first since prevention is better than cure.Government policies should be stricter regarding gambling, particularly On-line gambling since that is readily accessible to the youth. Public policies that can infl uence the social environment and minimize unhealthy gambling behavior such as legislation on advertising and promotion, laws regulating minimum age-requirements and their enforcement, provision of programs for harm minimization, monetary measures, and regulation of the availability of products should be balanced with the economic gains of the gambling industry (Messerlian Derevensky 2005).Other prevention models suggested by Derevensky Gupta (2002) include the need for awareness of the problem activities that increase knowledge on adolescent gambling programs to help modify and lurch attitude that gambling is not harmless teaching of trenchant coping and adaptive skills to prevent problematic gambling changing inappropriate conceptions about skill and luck, the illusion of control and independence in gambling activities and identification, assessment and referral of students who are revelatory of being at risk to gambling problems.Psychosocial approaches are one of the methods used to treat pathological gambling and this for adults this includes Gamblers Anonymous (Pietrzak et al. , 2006). For the adolescents several youth groups have been organise such as youthbet. net in Canada and wannabet. org in the United States these website are managed by youths and non-governmental organizations to offer assistance and collaboration to adolescents (Messerlian Derevensky, 2005). Piertzak et al.(2006) found that cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) and eclectic therapy have been subservient in reducing problematic gambling behaviors. CBT involves altering the inaccurate perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of adolescents about gambling. The eclectic therapy is the individual approach to treating gambling problems and consists of detailed assessment, acceptance of the problem, development of effective coping skills, restructuring of free time, involvement of family and social supports, cognitive restructuring, establishment of debt payment plans and relapse prevention (ibid).The motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is also used and is based on the concept that behavior change occurs through identifiable stages pre-contemplation, contemplation, action and maintenance (ibid). In this approach, the therapist is non-confrontational and elicits the adolescents understanding of the consequences of gambling and strengthens the commitment to change the ways of the individual since it has a shorter duration that CBT and other therapies, MET is recommended for onset problems (ibid).A disease model is also sometimes used to treat gambling problems. In this approach, the compulsive gambler is made to embrace abstinence from gambling, to participate in self-help groups and to maintain abstinence by going through therapy to deal with previous or latent psychological problems (Upfold, 2007).There is also the Ecological Approach wherein gambling behavior is viewed from multiple perspectives and addresses the behavior from an individual and socio-environmental level where interventions are made at five levels that affects an individual to gamble biological, familial, behavioral, social and environmental (Messerlian Derevesnky, 2005). Internal and external factors cause an adolescent to gamble.Occasional gambling is harmless but once exposed to gambling especially at a young age, gambling problems may occur and develop into an addiction, which may affect the social, academic and personal life of the adolescent. Treatments diverge such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, eclectic therapy, motivational-enhancement therapy and ecological approach however, prevention of adolescent gambling is still the best and this can be done through increased awareness about the public health problem and stricter government policies regarding access of adolescents to gambling venues, especially online gambling.BibliographyBergevin, T. , Gupta, R. and Derevensky, J. (2006). Adolescent gambling Understanding the role of stress and coping. daybook of Gambling Studies, (22), 195-208. Derevensky, J. L. and Gupta, R. (2002). Youth gambling A clinical and research perspective. The Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http//www. camh. net/egambling/issue2/feature/index. html Felsher, J. R. , Derevensky, J. L. , Gupta, R. (2003). Parental influences and social moulding of youth lottery participation.Journal of Community Applied Social Psychology, 13 361-377. Hardoon, K. 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