Preventing adolescent gambling problems

Abstract

The landscape of gambling internationally has continued to evolve at an unprecedented rate. While traditional land-based gambling continues to flourish (e.g., casinos, racinos, card rooms, lotteries), technological advances have enabled more and more individuals to wager from the comfort of their own homes. Never before have there been such a multiplicity of different types of gambling activities that are easily accessible and readily available. Globally, gambling during the past decade has represented one of the fastest changing and growing industries in the world, with technological developments creating new innovative forms of gambling (e.g., fantasy and daily fantasy sports, skins gambling based upon skilled interactive games). While some jurisdictions (e.g., Atlantic City) have shown declines in gambling revenues, much of these revenues can be accounted for by increases in gambling opportunities in neighboring states. In other jurisdictions, for example, Macau, sociopolitical restrictions have limited the frequency of casino visits, ultimately curtailing revenues. In spite of these few blips, gambling continues to expand internationally. Gambling opportunities have become so prolific and widespread that it is difficult to find jurisdictions in which some form of gambling is not government controlled, regulated, organized, or owned, and even in jurisdictions without regulated forms of gambling, non-regulated gambling (e.g., among peers or online gambling) continues to flourish. Internationally, gambling continues to be viewed as a socially acceptable form of entertainment in spite of the acknowledged social, familial, and personal costs associated with excessive problematic gambling.