Correlates of College Student Gambling in the United States

Abstract

The authors report findings from the first national survey of gambling among college students. They collected information from 10,765 students attending 119 scientifically selected colleges included in the 2001 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS), which indicated that 42% of responding students gambled in the last school year and 2.6% gambled weekly or more frequently. These findings contradict the widely held opinion based on previous studies that gambling is prevalent among college students. Previous studies used convenience samples that might have overestimated the risk for gambling problems. Male students and students of legal age (> 21 y) were more likely than others to gamble. Availability of gambling, measured by the number of types of gambling venues located in the schools' states, influenced their decisions to gamble. The concordance of characteristics associated with both gambling and binge drinking suggested a disposition to take risks that is independent of the risk objects.

Key Words:

• alcohol
• gambling
• risk-taking
• substance abuse
• youth

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Henry Wechsler

Richard A. LaBrie, associate director, Howard J. Shaffer, and Debi A. LaPlante are with the Division on Addictions, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Henry Wechsler is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, and the Division on Addictions at the Harvard Medical School.