Study finds no clear links between gaming by children and gambling as young adults

Seán McCárthaigh

There is no clear link between gaming by young children and gambling as young adults, according to the findings of a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

However, it claimed there was still a potential need for policies and regulations to reduce the risk of potential harm, as it found stronger links between online gaming by older teenagers and gambling at the age of 20.

The ESRI study said it found no statistically significant link between childhood gaming and later gambling as young adults, but there was a strong correlation between online gaming in older teenagers and online gambling and gambling frequency at the age of 20.

It found teenagers who were gaming at 17 were 1.4 times more likely to be more frequently gambling by the age of 20 than those who were not playing games online.

At the age of 20, young adults who are online gamers are 1.7 times more likely to be online gamblers more frequently.

However, longer periods spent gaming were not associated with the frequency of gambling.

The study analysed data from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study which follows over 4,200 children born in 1998.

It examined information pertaining to their gaming behaviour when they were aged 9, 17 and 20 and its links with the frequency of gambling when they were 20.

The author of the study, Gretta Mohan, an ESRI senior research officer, said it examined the “gateway hypothesis” which proposes that gaming in childhood could predict future gambling behaviour.

The study found almost 90% of 9-year-olds used a computer to play video games with two-thirds spending at least one hour gaming online on a typical day.

When they were aged 17, almost 39.6% of young people said they were playing games online with the figure increasing slightly to 41.1 per cent at 20.

Approximately 10 per cent of eenagers said they were gaming for more than two hours daily on a typical weekday. However, the figure increased to 20 per cent on weekends.

The study also revealed that 3.6 per cent of 20-year-olds reported gambling (excluding lottery games) at least on a weekly basis with a further 3.6 per cent gambling at least once a month.

There was also a three-fold increase in the proportion who participated in online gambling among young adults, going from 2.9 per cent among those aged 17 to nine per cent three years later.

The results showed young male adults were significantly more likely to be involved with gambling than females of the same age.

The report acknowledged that there is increasing concern among parents, researchers and policy makers about the rapid expansion of gaming and gambling opportunities in contemporary society.

Dr Mohan noted that there had been a greater “gamblification” of gaming through the introduction of loot boxes, skins and social casino games in recent years which did not exist in 2007 when the data on the gaming habits of 9-year-olds was collected.

She claimed the effects of various innovations in gaming on gambling behaviour were not observed in the study and were an issue that warranted further research.

“Given the rapidly evolving nature of online gaming and gambling, ongoing monitoring of these behaviours in younger and older cohorts is crucial,” said Dr Mohan.

The study said the findings did not the “gateway hypothesis” in of early childhood but did give credence to it in relation to later adolescence.