Gambling, Gaming and Substance Use

Tara Elton-Marshall, Ph.D.Institute for Mental Health Policy Research

May 10, 2019

Copyright © 2017, CAMH(Source: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/06/gse-phones-study/)

Social Media

5+ hours/day

(grades 7-12)

20.1%

25.8% of Females

14.9% of Males

(Source: Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, 2018)

(Source: OSDUHS 2013-2018)

2013

2015

201710.7%

16.0%

20.1%

Adolescents reporting 5+ hours on social media

Copyright © 2017, CAMH(Photo Source: http://www.teenage-gambling-addiction.org/are-teens-living-addictive-lifestyles/)/)

Electronic Devices

(grades 9-12)

Do not use daily:

1%

3-4 hours/day: 33.3%

5-6 hours/day: 17.7%

7+ hours/day: 11.8%(Source: Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, 2018)

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Past year video game play (grades 7-12)

83.1%

94.3% of males

71.4% of females

(Source: Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, 2018)

(Photo Source: http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3757278)

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Daily video game play

(grades 7-12)

35% of Males

9.9% of Females

(Source: Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, 2018)

(Photo Source: https://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/health-features/teenage-tv-and-video-addicts-are-risking-bone-health-31294419.html)

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Video Games and Gambling

7

Are Loot Boxes Gambling?

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“Skins” Betting

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Betting with

Friends

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E-Sports

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Problem Video Gamers by Gambling Mode

34%

14%

9%No

Gambling

χ2 =14.08, p < 0.001

(Veselka et al., under review)

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(Gainsbury et al., 2014; Parke et al., 2013; Dussault et al., 2017;

Gainsbury et al., 2014;

King et al., 2014; McBride & Derevensky, 2012)

10%-32%of adolescents have

played SCGs

Social Casino Games

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62.7%90.1%

49.7%

89.5%

62.2%

90.2%

18.5%

7.6%

17.8%

8.6%

18.6%

7.8%

18.9% 2.3% 32.5% 2.0% 19.3% 2.0%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Players Non-Players Players Non-Players Players Non-Players

SCG Poker SCG Slots Facebook SCGs

High

Low to Moderate

None

Severity of Problem Gambling by Social Casino Game Type Among Current Adolescent Gamblers(Veselka et al., 2018)

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Online Gambling

4.7

9.5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Adults AdolescentsP

erc

en

tag

e t

ha

t ga

mble

d o

nlin

e

Prevalence of

Online Gambling

among Adults

(LOGS, 2013) and

Adolescents (YGS,

2012/2013) in

Ontario (Pre-

Legalization)

Adolescent online gambling in the past 3 months vs.

Adult online gambling in the past 6 months

12.6%

33.9%

17

Problem Gambling by ModalityAdolescents (Grades 9-12)

Source: 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey

(OSDUHS)

Responsible Gambling Tools for Online Gambling

Unregulated Online Gambling

Australia: Betting Ads

Ban (March 2018)

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How are Adolescents

Currently Gambling?

11.6

9.8 9.4 9.3

7.7 7.6 7.5

4.43.6 3.3

2.2 2.11.2 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

23

How are Adolescents (Grades 9-12) Gambling?

Source: 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS)

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How are Adults Currently Gambling?

47.6

35.0

17.5

3.4

7.63.9

2.0 1.9 2.40.4 0.6 1.1 0.3

50.0

25.3

12.5 13.0

4.17.7

9.4 9.4

3.4 2.6 1.9 0.9 1.5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Female

Male

25

Adult (18+) Gambling by Gender

(Source: 2017-2018 Legalization of Online Gambling Study (LOGS)

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Gambling and other Substance Use

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Sta

nd

ard

ize

d M

ea

n S

co

re

Experimenters Non-Users Heavy Users

Gambling, Substance Use, Problematic Internet Use and Video Gaming (Source: OSDUHS, 2018; Williams, C., et al., in prep)

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Cannabis and Gambling

73.5

16.08.6

1.9

53.2

19.823.4

3.6

36.5

8.9

49.9

4.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Never/Not in the lastyear

Less than once aweek

Once a week or more Don't know/not stated

Frequency of cannabis use in past year

No problem Low problem High problem

Current Cannabis Use by Gambling Severity among AdolescentsGrades 9 – 12

Ontario

Source: Youth Gambling Survey 2012-2013

𝜒2 = 172.7, p < 0.001

77.7

13.47.2

1.7

64.1

20.713.2

2.0

60.7

15.220.6

3.5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Never/Not in the lastyear

Less than once aweek

Once a week or more Don't know/not stated

Frequency of cannabis use in the past year

Non-gambler Land-based gambler Online gambler

Current Cannabis Use by Gambling Type among AdolescentsGrades 9 – 12

Ontario

Source: Youth Gambling Survey 2012-

2013

𝜒2 = 126.0, p < 0.001

Summary• Long term impact of gambling and gaming

convergence unknown

• Problematic video gaming and online gambling related

• Social casino gaming and problem gambling related

• Problem gambling rates are highest among online

gamblers

• Gambling is clustered with other substance use

including binge drinking and frequent cannabis use

Summary• Online gamblers are also more likely to use cannabis

more frequently

• Changes in our gambling landscape (expansion of

legalization of online gambling to private companies,

free alcohol in casinos) likely to impact problem

gambling and substance use

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Research Support

The views expressed in this presentation are my own and

do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Health

and Long Term Care

Research Team

Rochelle Wijesingha, Livia Veselka, Chantal Williams, Maryfrances Carton, Karanpreet Bath, Wei

Qian, Mahmood Gohari, Angela Boak (OSDUHS), Nigel Turner, Hayley Hamilton, Robert Mann, Scott

Leatherdale