1. Youth gambling and the Internet: The good, the bad and the ugly Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D. Professor, School/Applied Child Psychology Professor, Psychiatry McGill University International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors www.youthgambling.com Alberta Gambling Research Institute Annual Conference March, 2009

2. Is gambling dangerous??

4. David Schwartz (UNLV) Bo Bernhard (UNLV) Colin Campbell (Douglas College) Nelson Rose (Whittier Law School) History of Internet gambling Robert Wood and Rob Williams (U of Lethbridge) Sally Monaghan (U of Sydney) History & evolution of gambling

7. Internet gambling on anything

12. The appeal of the Internet…

21. Celebrity endorsements….

25. Prevalence Findings of Internet Wagering Vary considerably Dependent upon method & date of data collection Dependent upon population studied Difficulties collecting data have been articulated by Wood & Williams (2009)

26. Adolescent Internet use…

27. Internet Use Media Awareness Network, 2009 In Canada, 99% of youth age 9-17 reported use of Internet, 94% have Internet access at home; 61% report having high speed access 37% report having their own Internet connections 89% of grade 4 school students play games on the Internet Where no household rules exist for Internet use, 74% report an adult was never present when the child was on the Internet 94% of students’ top 50 Internet sites include marketing material Large percentage of adolescents report observing Internet gambling pop-up messages & believe they were the target (Derevensky et al., 2008)

28. What we know about the Internet Access is widespread Access is inexpensive Internet is anonymous Internet is convenient Internet is entertaining Internet is used for many purposes

29. Two Internet gambling studies 2004-2006

30. Gambling Severity by Gender and Age N = 2292 Gambling Groups 1 Non Gambler (n = 745) Social Gambler a (n = 1333) At-Risk Gambler b (n = 139) Probable Pathological Gambler c (n = 75) Gender*** Malen = 102426.956.89.96.4 Femalen = 126837.159.23.00.7 Age*** 12-13 yearsn = 14049.239.37.93.6 14-15 yearsn = 40834.647.512.05.9 16-17 yearsn = 69433.355.57.24.0 18-20 yearsn = 83526.968.22.92.0 20-24 yearsn = 18233.663.72.20.5 > 25 yearsn = 3354.642.43.00 Total32.458.26.13.3 1 Percentage. Gambling Groups are based on DSM-IV and DSM-IV-MR scores. a DSM-IV score (0-2); DSM-IV-MR-J score (0-1). b DSM-IV score (3-4); DSM-IV-MR-J score (2-3). c DSM-IV score ( ≥5); DSM-IV-MR-J score (≥4). *** p<.001.

31. Gambling Severity by Age Group N = 2292 Gambling Groups 1 Non Gambler (n = 745) Social Gambler a (n = 1333) At-Risk Gambler b (n = 139) Probable Pathological Gambler c (n = 75) Age Group*** Under 18 years n = 1242 35.551.08.94.6 18 and over n = 1050 29.066.52.81.7 Total32.458.26.13.3 1 Percentage. Gambling Groups are based on DSM-IV and DSM-IV-MR scores. a DSM-IV score (0-2); DSM-IV-MR-J score (0-1). b DSM-IV score (3-4); DSM-IV-MR-J score (2-3). c DSM-IV score ( ≥5); DSM-IV-MR-J score (≥4). *** p<.001.

33. Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Games Without Money by Gender and Age N = 2679 Frequency of Play Never (%) Occasionally a (%) Regularly b (%) Daily c (%) Gender** Malen = 116259.033.64.92.5 Femalen = 151762.032.04.91.1 Age*** 12-13 yearsn = 16653.634.47.84.2 14-15 yearsn = 47556.036.45.52.1 16-17 yearsn = 78656.636.05.51.9 18-20 yearsn = 97362.931.74.60.8 21-24 yearsn = 23574.921.72.11.3 > 25 yearsn = 4488.76.804.5 Total60.732.74.91.7 1 Percentage. a Less than once a week. b Once a week or more. c Once a day or more. *** p<.001. ** p<.05.

34. Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites Without Money in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity N = 2205 Internet Gambling Without Money 1 Yes (n = 1082) No (n = 1123) Gambling Groups*** Non Gamblern = 72633.966.1 Social Gamblern = 127856.643.4 At-Risk Gamblern = 12974.425.6 Probable Pathological Gambler n = 7280.619.4 Total49.150.9 1 Percentage. *** p<.001.

35. Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites With Money in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity N = 2292 Internet Gambling With Money 1 Yes (n = 183) No (n = 2109) Gambling Groups*** Non Gamblern = 7450100 Social Gamblern = 13339.590.5 At-Risk Gamblern = 13921.678.4 Probable Pathological Gambler n = 7534.765.3 Total8.0*92.0 1 Percentage *13.1% males; 4.6% females are gambling on Internet

36. Average Amount of Money Spent on Internet Gambling in the Last 12 Months by Gender and Age Amount of Money Spent < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gender*** Males97.80.30.61.4 Females99.50.50.1 Age 12-13 years98.200.61.2 14-15 years97.90.40.21.5 16-17 years98.80.40.10.6 18-20 years98.50.40.60.4 21-24 years100.0000 > 25 years99.01.000 1 Percentage.

37. Average Amount of Money Spent on Internet Gambling in the Last 12 Months by Gambling Severity N=2291 Amount of Money Spent < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gambling*** Groups Social Gambler 98.90.60.40.1 At-Risk Gambler 96.502.21.4 Probable Pathological Gambler 86.61.3 10.7 1 Percentage.

38. Most Money Wagered in One Internet Gambling Session by Gender and Age Amount of Money Wagered < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gender*** Males96.80.91.21.0 Females99.60.10.30 Age 12-13 years98.10.61.20 14-15 years97.20.80.61.2 16-17 years98.30.31.00.4 18-20 years98.50.50.60.3 21-24 years100.0000 > 25 years100.0000 1 Percentage.

39. Most Money Wagered in One Internet Gambling Session by Gambling Severity Amount of Money Wagered < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gambling*** Groups Social Gambler 99.00.40.50.2 At-Risk Gambler 93.52.2 Probable Pathological Gambler 85.32.74.08.0 1 Percentage.

40. Most Money Won in One Internet Gambling Session by Gender and Age Amount of Money Won < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gender*** Males96.10.9 2.2 Females98.90.50.3 Age 12-13 years96.91.201.8 14-15 years96.71.10.41.9 16-17 years97.60.5 1.4 18-20 years97.70.70.90.6 21-24 years100.0000 > 25 years100.0000 1 Percentage.

41. Most Money Won in One Internet Gambling Session by Gambling Severity Amount of Money Won < $50 $50- $100 $100- $500 > $500 Gambling*** Groups Social Gambler 98.40.20.80.6 At-Risk Gambler 92.14.303.6 Probable Pathological Gambler 77.35.34.013.3 1 Percentage.

42. Most Money Lost in One Internet Gambling Session by Gender and Age Amount of Money Lost < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gender*** Males96.80.91.01.2 Females99.50.30.20.1 Age 12-13 years98.7001.2 14-15 years96.71.10.41.9 16-17 years98.70.40.50.4 18-20 years98.30.60.90.1 21-24 years100.0000 > 25 years99.01.000 1 Percentage.

43. Most Money Lost in One Internet Gambling Session by Gambling Group Amount of Money Lost < $50$50-$100$100-$500> $500 Gambling*** Groups Social Gambler 99.00.60.50.1 At-Risk Gambler 95.102.92.1 Probable Pathological Gambler 81.35.34.09.3 1 Percentage.

44. Age of Onset for Internet Gambling Without Money by Gambling Severity 1 Percentage. Gambling Groups are based on DSM-IV and DSM-IV-MR scores. a DSM-IV score (0-2); DSM-IV-MR-J score (0-1). b DSM-IV score (3-4); DSM-IV-MR-J score (2-3). c DSM-IV score ( ≥5); DSM-IV-MR-J score (≥4). *** p<.001. Gambling Groups 1 Social Gambler a (n = 1333) At-Risk Gambler b (n = 138) Probable Pathological Gambler c (n = 72) Age*** Under 10 years4.413.116.9 10-11 years8.810.916.9 12-13 years15.219.025.4 14-15 years17.215.315.5 16-17 years9.17.32.8 Over 18 years2.80.72.8

45. Age of Onset for Internet Gambling With Money by Gambling Severity Gambling Groups 1 Social Gambler a (n = 1333) At-Risk Gambler b (n = 138) Probable Pathological Gambler c (n = 72) Age*** Under 10 yearsn = 130.53.61.4 10-11 yearsn = 80.50.77.2 12-13 yearsn = 301.07.25.6 14-15 yearsn = 522.65.811.1 16-17 yearsn = 291.72.94.2 Over 18 yearsn = 261.90.70 1 Percentage. Gambling Groups are based on DSM-IV and DSM-IV-MR scores. a DSM-IV score (0-2); DSM-IV-MR-J score (0-1). b DSM-IV score (3-4); DSM-IV-MR-J score (2-3). c DSM-IV score ( ≥5); DSM-IV-MR-J score (≥4). *** p<.001.

47. Follow-up study (McBride & Derevensky, 2007) Montreal high-school students: N = 1113 Canadian and U.S. college and university students: N = 1273 On-line gaming newsletter link: N = 546

48. Past year gambling

49. Past-Year Gambling Frequencies

50. Use of “Demo/Practice” Sites

51. “Demo/Practice” Site Frequency

52. “Demo/Practice” Activities

53. Gambling for Money on Internet

54. Gambling for Money on Internet Frequency

55. Internet Sample Online Gambling Activities

56. Gambling Severity by Sample

57. Internet Sample of Problem Gamblers

58. Reasons Youth Gamble on Internet

59. Reasons Youth Don’t Gamble on Internet

60. How Youth Are Paying

63. Facts & Concerns

64. Internet Gambling Provides a form of entertainment Enhances levels of excitement and arousal Provides an opportunity to win money Younger generation of teens very attracted to Internet gambling sights Practice sights are exceedingly popular amongst problem gamblers-age of onset is before 13 Adolescents are gambling on the net, occasionally Over 10% of problem gamblers spent over $500 on Internet gambling Sites are widely advertised

65. Internet Gambling Offers free games and trial (practice) sites Incorporates video-game technology Reward and loyalty programs Initial deposit bonuses Bettor’s Insurance Graphics add to the excitement of the game Perceived elements of skill Convenience and ease of access Allows individuals to lie about their age Allows underage youth to gamble on prohibited activities Reinforcement schedules are quick

66. Gambling for money on the Internet 9% of high school students have gambled for money on the Internet –13% of males, 6% of females 6% of College and University students have gambled for money on the Internet –11% of males, 3% of females 42% of the Internet sample have gambled for money on the Internet –53% of males, 20% of females –70% at least weekly

67. Conclusions Playing on Internet gambling sites without money is a common practice amongst adolescents and young adults At-Risk and PPGs play on Internet with and without money more often than non-gamblers and social gamblers Internet wagers for money increases with severity of gambling problems Most money won and lost increases by gambling severity

68. Gambling sites permitting playing without money have been shown to –have differential payout rates –represent breeding ground for future players Much Internet wagering incorporates videogame technology Recent studies suggest young male adults are more likely to engage in Internet gambling

70. ….. a fourth wave of gambling

71. significant expansion of Internet gambling greater government regulation, ownership & taxation likely see new innovative harm minimization efforts including technological advances (e.g. Techlink & biometric devices) more gambling problems emerging more research and hopefully collaborative research efforts potential for future problems amongst youth remains high use of gambling blocking software may be advisable

72. regulated, grey market, dark grey/black market sites young adults highest risk group we will see other forms of Internet wagering including mobile gambling, interactive t.v. gambling has become normalized sensitizing parents