Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns of Gambling Activities and Gambling Problems Among Italian High School Students: Results from a Latent Class Analysis

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Gambling Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aims to provide an estimate of the prevalence of gambling among Italian adolescents and a description of their patterns of gambling activities (PGAs) using a latent class analysis on 13 different types of games. A nationwide sample of 10,959 Italian high school students was recruited in 2013. We assessed problem gambling using the South Oaks Gambling Screen: Revisited for Adolescent (SOGS-RA) scale. Approximately half (50.6%) of students reported gambling at least once in the previous year; 5.0% of them were problem gamblers and 9.1% were at-risk gamblers according to their SOGS-RA scores. Eight PGAs were identified, among which heavy players (1.7% of students) could be classified as problem gamblers and broad skill players (2.0%) and lotteries & sports players (2.4%) as “at-risk” players. These high-risk classes were consistently associated with risky behaviours in terms of substance use, school performance, money spent on gambling and family environment; the other five classes identified low-risk players associated with safe behaviours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify PGAs among Italian adolescents. Problem gamblers are not a homogeneous group in terms of patterns of gambling activities and are associated with different risk factors, among which environmental factors, such as parents’ gambling attitude and behaviour, deserve special attention. The acknowledgment of such patterns and risk factors could be useful in developing sensible public policies addressing prevention strategies and regulatory instruments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A review of youth gambling studies across three continents (Australia, Europe and North America) found that 2–13% of youth meet diagnostic criteria for problem gambling (Volberg et al. 2010).

References

  • Afifi, T. O., LaPlante, D. A., Taillieu, T. L., Dowd, D., & Shaffer, H. J. (2014). Gambling involvement: Considering frequency of play and the moderating effects of gender and age. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 12(3), 283–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akaike, H. (1973). Information theory and an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In B. Petrov & F. Csáki (Eds.), 2nd International Symposium on Information Theory (pp. 267–281). Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blinn-Pike, L., Worthy, S. L., & Jonkman, J. N. (2010). Adolescent gambling: A review of an emerging field of research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47(3), 223–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boldero, J. M., Bell, R. C., & Moore, S. M. (2010). Do gambling activity patterns predict gambling problems? A latent class analysis of gambling forms among Australian youth. International Gambling Studies, 10(2), 151–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breen, R. B., & Zimmerman, M. (2002). Rapid onset of pathological gambling in machine gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 18(1), 31–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calado, F., Alexandre, J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2016). Prevalence of adolescent problem gambling: A systematic review of recent research. Journal of Gambling Studies. doi:10.1007/s10899-016-9627-5.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Colasante, E., Gori, M., Bastiani, L., Scalese, M., Siciliano, V., & Molinaro, S. (2014). Italian adolescent gambling behaviour: Psychometric evaluation of the South Oaks Gambling Screen: Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) among a sample of Italian students. Journal of Gambling Studies, 30(4), 789–801.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delfabbro, P., King, D. L., & Derevensky, J. L. (2016). Adolescent gambling and problem gambling: Prevalence, current issues, and concerns. Current Addiction Reports, 3(3), 268–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delfabbro, P., & Thrupp, L. (2003). The social determinants of youth gambling in South Australian adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 26(3), 313–330.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J. L. (2012). Teen gambling. Understanding a growing epidemic. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J. L., & Gilbeau, L. (2015). Adolescent gambling: Twenty-five years of research. Canadian Journal of Addiction, 6(2), 4–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2000). Youth gambling: A clinical and research perspective. e-Gambling. The Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues, 2, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2004). Adolescents with gambling problems: A synopsis of our current knowledge. Journal of Gambling Issues. doi:10.4309/jgi.2004.10.3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J. L., Gupta, R., Messerlian, C., & Gillespie, M. (2005). Youth gambling problems: A need for responsible social policy. In J. L. Derevensky & R. Gupta (Eds.), Gambling problems in youth. Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. 231–252). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dickerson, M. (1993). Internal and external determinants of persistent gambling: Problems in generalising from one form of gambling to another. Journal of Gambling Studies, 9(3), 225–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson, L., Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2008). Youth gambling problems: Examining risk and protective factors. International Gambling Studies, 8(1), 25–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, N., Smith, D., & Thomas, T. (2005). Electronic gaming machines: Are they the “crack-cocaine” of gambling? Addiction, 100(1), 33–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Engwall, D., Hunter, R., & Steinberg, M. A. (2004). Gambling and other risk behaviors on university campuses. Journal of American College Health, 52(6), 245–256.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Floros, G., Paradisioti, A., Hadjimarcou, M., Mappouras, D. G., Karkanioti, O., & Siomos, K. (2015). Adolescent online gambling in Cyprus: Associated school performance and psychopathology. Journal of Gambling Studies, 31(2), 367–384.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franco, C. A., Maciejewski, P. K., & Potenza, M. N. (2011). Past-year recreational gambling in a nationally representative sample: Correlates of casino, non-casino, and both casino/non-casino gambling. Psychiatry Research, 188(2), 269–275.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gausset, Q., & Jansbøl, K. (2009). “Tell me what you play and I will tell you who you are”: Values and gambling habits in two Danish universities. International Gambling Studies, 9(1), 67–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gori, M., Bastiani, L., Lucchini, F., & Gazzetti, S. (2014). Un gioco… da ragazzi? In S. Molinaro, R. Potente, & A. Cutilli (Eds.), Consumi d’azzardo: Alchimie, normalità e fragilità: La fotografia ESPAD 2013. Milano: CE.R.CO Edizioni.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goudriaan, A. E., Slutske, W. S., Krull, J. L., & Sher, K. J. (2009). Longitudinal patterns of gambling activities and associated risk factors in college students. Addiction, 104(7), 1219–1232.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M. (2000). Scratchcard gambling among adolescent males. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(1), 79–91.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M., Wardle, H., Orford, J., Sproston, K., & Erens, B. (2009). Sociodemographic correlates of internet gambling: Findings from the 2007 British Gambling Prevalence Survey. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(2), 199–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M., & Wood, R. T. (2000). Risk factors in adolescence: The case of gambling, videogame playing, and the internet. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(2–3), 199–225.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J. L. (1998). Adolescent gambling behavior: A prevalence study and examination of the correlates associated with problem gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 14(4), 319–345.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J. L. (2000). Adolescents with gambling problems: From research to treatment. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(2/3), 315–342.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hanss, D., Mentzoni, R. A., Delfabbro, P., Myrseth, H., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Attitudes toward gambling among adolescents. International Gambling Studies, 14(3), 505–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardoon, K. K., & Derevensky, J. L. (2002). Child and adolescent gambling behavior: Current knowledge. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7(2), 263–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, D. F. (2000). Juvenile gambling in North America: An analysis of long term trends and future prospects. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(2/3), 119–152.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, A., Grant, J. E., Kim, S. W., Odlaug, B. L., & Götestam, K. G. (2009). Risk factors for problematic gambling: A critical literature review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25(1), 67–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kristiansen, S., & Jensen, S. M. (2011). Prevalence of gambling problems among adolescents in the Nordic countries: An overview of national gambling surveys 1997–2009. International Journal of Social Welfare, 20(1), 75–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2007). Gambling with adolescent health. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(5), 387–389.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ladouceur, R., Jacques, C., Ferland, F., & Giroux, I. (1998). Parents’ attitudes and knowledge regarding gambling among youths. Journal of Gambling Studies, 14(1), 83–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R., & Rohling, M. L. (2004). Individual, family, and peer correlates of adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 20(1), 23–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2011). Disordered gambling, type of gambling and gambling involvement in the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007. European Journal of Public Health, 21(4), 532–537.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lo, Y., Mendell, N., & Rubin, D. (2001). Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika, 88(3), 767–778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lund, I. (2006). Gambling and problem gambling in Norway: What part does the gambling machine play? Addiction Research & Theory, 14(5), 475–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, K., & Wynne, H. (2004). Against the odds: A profile of at-risk and problem gamblers. Canadian Social Trends, 11–8, 25–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, G. J. (1987). On bootstrapping the likelihood ratio test statistic for the number of components in a normal mixture. Applied Statistics, 36(3), 318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molde, H., Pallesen, S., Bartone, P., Hystad, S., & Johnsen, B. H. (2009). Prevalence and correlates of gambling among 16 to 19-year-old adolescents in Norway: Personality and social sciences. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 50(1), 55–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Molinaro, S., Potente, R., & Cutilli, A. (2014). Consumi d’azzardo: Alchimie, normalità e fragilità. La fotografia ESPAD 2013. Milano, Italy: CerCo Edizioni.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagin, D. (2005). Group-based modeling of development. London: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14(4), 535–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Räsänen, T., Lintonen, T., & Konu, A. (2015). Gambling and problem behavior among 14- to 16-year-old boys and girls in Finland. Journal of Gambling Issues, 31, 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scalese, M., Bastiani, L., Salvadori, S., Gori, M., Lewis, I., Jarre, P., et al. (2016). Association of problem gambling with type of gambling among Italian general population. Journal of Gambling Studies, 32(3), 1017–1026.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics, 6(2), 461–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sclove, L. S. (1987). Application of model selection criteria to some problems in multivariate analysis. Psychometrika, 52(3), 333–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., & Stanton, M. V. (2004). The road less travelled: Moving from distribution to determinants in the study of gambling epidemiology. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 49(8), 504–516.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shead, N. W., Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2010). Risk and protective factors associated with youth problem gambling. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 22(1), 39–58.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Splevins, K., Mireskandari, S., Clayton, K., & Blaszczynski, A. (2010). Prevalence of adolescent problem gambling, related harms and help-seeking behaviours among an Australian population. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(2), 189–204.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Studer, J., Baggio, S., Mohler-Kuo, M., Simon, O., Daeppen, J.-B., & Gmel, G. (2016). Latent class analysis of gambling activities in a sample of young Swiss men: Association with gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. Journal of Gambling Studies, 32(2), 421–440.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N. E., Macdonald, J., Bartoshuk, M., & Zangeneh, M. (2008). Adolescent gambling behaviour, attitudes, and gambling problems. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 6(2), 223–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., Wanner, B., Ladouceur, R., Brendgen, M., & Tremblay, R. E. (2004). Trajectories of gambling during adolescence. Journal of Gambling Studies, 20(1), 47–69.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Volberg, R. A., Gupta, R., Griffiths, M. D., Ólason, D. T., & Delfabbro, P. (2010). An international perspective on youth gambling prevalence studies. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 22(1), 3–38.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Welte, J. W., Barnes, G. M., Tidwell, M.-C. O., & Hoffman, J. H. (2008). The prevalence of problem gambling among U.S. adolescents and young adults: Results from a national survey. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24(2), 119–133.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Welte, J. W., Barnes, G. M., Tidwell, M.-C. O., & Hoffman, J. H. (2009). The association of form of gambling with problem gambling among American youth. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(1), 105–112.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Welte, J. W., Barnes, G., & Wieczorek, W. (2007). Type of gambling and availability as risk factors for problem gambling: A Tobit regression analysis by age and gender. International Gambling Studies, 7(2), 183–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winters, K. C., Stinchfield, R. D., Botzet, A., & Anderson, N. (2002). A prospective study of youth gambling behaviors. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16(1), 3–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winters, K. C., Stinchfield, R., & Fulkerson, J. (1993). Patterns and characteristics of adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 9(4), 371–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winters, K. C., Stinchfield, R. D., & Kim, L. G. (1995). Monitoring adolescent gambling in Minnesota. Journal of Gambling Studies, 11(2), 165–183.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yip, S. W., Desai, R. A., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., Cavallo, D. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., et al. (2011). Health/functioning characteristics, gambling behaviors, and gambling-related motivations in adolescents stratified by gambling problem severity: Findings from a high school survey. The American Journal on Addictions, 20(6), 495–508.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by FARB (FFBO127297), University of Bologna. We acknowledge the crucial contribution of Silvia Zucconi, (Nomisma SpA) for the development of the dataset.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, Strada Maggiore 45, 40125, Bologna, Italy

    Nicola De Luigi

  2. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Via San Giacomo 12, 40126, Bologna, Italy

    Dino Gibertoni

  3. Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Strada Maggiore 45, 40125, Bologna, Italy

    Emanuela Randon & Antonello E. Scorcu

Authors
  1. Nicola De Luigi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dino Gibertoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Emanuela Randon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Antonello E. Scorcu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dino Gibertoni.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

De Luigi, N., Gibertoni, D., Randon, E. et al. Patterns of Gambling Activities and Gambling Problems Among Italian High School Students: Results from a Latent Class Analysis. J Gambl Stud 34, 339–359 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9694-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9694-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation