Comparisons of Gambling and Alcohol Use Among College Students and Non-College Students in the U.S.

The patterns of gambling and alcohol use were compared for college and similarly aged, non-college young adults in the U.S. population. Data was collected a nationally representative household sample of 1,000 U.S. respondents aged 14-21 via telephone interview.

Quantitative Findings

• Of young adults who gambled in the past year:
  • 75% were college students.
  • 70% were non-college young adults.
• Of those young adults gambled 52 times or more in the past year:
  • 25% were non-college individuals.
  • 18% were college students.

Identifying as Male

• 5x the odds of being a heavy or problem gambler as females regardless of college student status.
• 38% and 31% are the rates of heavy gambling for non-college and college young men, respectively.

Identifying as Female

• 5% rate of non-college females were identified as struggling with problem gambling.
• 2% rate of college females were identified as struggling with problem gambling.
• 12% of non-college females report heavy gambling (compared to 6% of college females).
• 5% of non-college females struggle with gambling harm (compared to 2% of females attending college).

Identifying as Black

• 60% increased odds for those identifying as black (yet a 70% decrease in odds of drinking or heavy drinking).

Qualitative Findings

• Findings from this study support the position that gambling and problem gambling are influenced by broad sociodemographic factors, especially gender and race, and not by college factors per se.
• College student status does not appear to put young people at added risk of gambling problems.
• The rates of heavy gambling were higher for non-college young adults than for college students (the opposite of heavy drinking, which is higher among college students).

Identifying as Male

• Is the most important and consistent risk factor for gambling behaviors whether in college or non-college settings.
• The most popular forms of gambling for males are lottery, card games, pools and raffles, sports betting and games of skill.

Identifying as Female

• The most popular forms of gambling for females are lottery, card games, pools and raffles, and bingo.

Identifying as Black

• Identifying as black:
  • Black individuals are more likely than whites to gamble heavily.
  • Black individuals have increased odds of heavy gambling by 60%.

Socioeconomics

• Higher socioeconomic status lowered the odds of problem gambling.

Identified Risk Factors

• Being Male.
• Being Black.
• Lower Socioeconomic status.

Identified Protective Factors

• Identifying as female (when comparing male vs female data).

Identified Recommendations

• Age- and gender-targeted prevention and intervention strategies are warranted to reduce the serious consequences of gambling among young adult males in the U.S. population.

Identified Conclusions

• College student status does not appear to put young people at added risk of gambling or gambling problems.