How gambling and risky behaviors affect student-athletes in the U.S.

 

The question of how prevalent gambling is among athletes at U.S. colleges is important. It is equally important to examine the extent to which gambling is associated with risky and even dangerous health behaviors. For this purpose, the first nationwide survey on gambling among U.S. college student-athletes was conducted.

It was self-administered and anonymous, conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and gathered information from a nationally representative sample of 20,739 young people who played sports and were students.

The result showed that males had a consistently higher prevalence of gambling than females. Thus, 42.8% of females participated in some gambling activity while as many as 62.4% of males did. . Based on DSM-IV gambling screening, this study identified 4.3% of men and 0.4% of women as problem/pathological gamblers. Also, the study found that as the level of gambling problems increased, other issues such as substance use, unprotected sex, and overeating to the point of vomiting worsened. This was a general trend, that is, one that was observed in all groups of gamblers.

All cross comparisons of groups by player type were significant. Thus, the problem and pathological players had concurrent severe issues with alcohol and substance use. Their problem rates were higher than those of social gamblers and people who did not gamble.

So, a direct relationship was found between gambling and risky behaviors in college student=athletes. This confirms that problem behavior syndrome persists in young people. Accordingly, there is a need to develop and implement targeted initiatives. These are needed to address all the different types of risk behaviors.

Specific initiatives should be designed according to the nature of the problems experienced by pathological and problem players. Problem behavior syndrome in youth sports players is severe, so professionals should address the issue. It is better if it is addressed immediately and simultaneously.

Material created with the support of https://playplinko.org/