Adolescents who play games of chance and money are more at risk of consuming psychoactive substances, according to an Italian study.
Playful teenager, young addict. The shortcut is a bit simplistic, yes, but it is based on a recent scientific observation. According to an Italian study from the University of Padova, young people who play games of chance and money (JHA) constitute a population at risk of consuming psychoactive substances.
Poker, bet, scratching
No causality between games and these products; in these works published in the journal Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, researchers only establish an association link. To establish this link, 1325 college students (from sixth to fourth) were questioned about their experience of gambling (video poker, online betting, scratch tickets), as well as their consumption of tobacco, alcohol , cannabis and energy drinks.
The results first show a high rate of players within this group. Among eighth graders, 46% of boys and 35% of girls said they had played at least one of the games above – scratch tickets being the most popular.
In addition, young players were more likely to report using psychoactive substances. For example, 60% of teenage tobacco smokers, 73% of alcohol users, and 63% of marijuana smokers also played HHAs.
Accessible “around the corner”
“Today’s young people are the first generation for whom games of chance and money are accessible at street corners and on the Internet”, explain the authors, who recall that the link between these games and the consumption of Psychoactive drugs in adolescents has been the subject of many previous studies.
The interest of this work, according to their authors, is to show the very strong popularity of these games among young adolescents, despite the age limits to which they are supposed to be subjected. Parents must be aware of the risks associated with this activity, in order to adjust their prevention message to their children, the researchers further emphasize. The reason for this association remains open to debate. “Impulsivity could be a significant common denominator,” they suggest.
One in two young people in France
In France, in 2011, nearly half (44%) of French 17-year-olds had played a JHA in their lifetime and 39% in the past 12 months, according to data from OFDT. Although prohibited for minors in the 2010 law, the practice of online games is declared among 17-year-old adolescents by 14% of players in the year.
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