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Estimated 750,000 problem gamblers among America's youth |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Gambling activity is widespread among U.S. adolescents and young adults ages 14 through 21, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA). Results of the first national survey of its kind show problem gambling -- described as gambling with three or more negative consequences (for example, gambling more than you intended or stealing money to gamble) in the past year -- occurring at a rate of 2.1 percent among youth 14 to 21. That ppercentage projects to approximately 750,000 young problem gamblers nationwide. The rates of problem gambling found in the study are not, in fact, as high as the rates of problem gambling found in eight previous studies conducted in smaller jurisdictions by other research teams, according to Welte. "As might be expected, all statistically significant results showed that greater gambling involvement is associated with aging into an adult status," Welte stated. "We compared problem gambling rates among youth with problem gambling rates among adults from our national study of U.S. adults in 2000," Welte said. Native Americans were found to have a higher rate of frequent gambling (28 percent) when compared to whites (9 percent) as well as to be higher on measures of problem gambling. Other religions (which include Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist, Jehovah's Witnesses and others) had a lower rate of having gambling in the past year (42 percent), but if they gambled, they had higher rates of frequent gambling than any other religious group.
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