Social class differences in the relationships between problem gambling and deviant behavior

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have suggested that problem gambling is associated with various deviant outcomes. Little research, however, has considered the extent to which such relationships vary by subgroups of the population. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 9,644), this study examines the relationship between problem gambling in young adulthood and a range of deviant behaviors (i.e. binge drinking, marijuana use, instrumental crime, violent crime) and whether these relationships vary by family social class background. Results from logistic regressions reveal that problem gamblers have increased odds of engaging in weekly binge drinking, weekly marijuana use, and any instrumental crime. Furthermore, findings show that the relationship between problem gambling and weekly binge drinking is stronger for those from higher family social class backgrounds, but that the relationship between problem gambling and instrumental crime is stronger for those from lower family social class backgrounds. Implications of these findings are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Gambling
• crime
• deviance
• substance use
• binge drinking
• social class

Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gregory C. Rocheleau

Gregory C. Rocheleau, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Ball State University. His research interests include bullying victimization, criminological theory, and relationships between work and delinquency, with a concentration on themes of social class and disadvantage. His most recent scholarship examines bullying victimization among food-allergic youth and applying criminological theory to explain adolescent e-cigarette use.

Christopher R Dennison

Christopher R Dennison, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the University at Buffalo's Department of Sociology. Most broadly, his research examines the association between intergenerational social mobility and changes in antisocial behavior across the life course. Other research interests include individual and “spillover” effects associated with involvement in the criminal justice system. His most recent project examines risky behavior among first- and continue-generation college students and how this relates to graduation.

Jessica G. Finkeldey

Jessica G. Finkeldey, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice in the Sociocultural and Justice Sciences Department at the State University of New York at Fredonia. As a whole, her research examines predictors of antisocial behavior and contact with the criminal justice system as well as the collateral consequences of contact with the justice system.

Mackenzie F. Reiber

Mackenzie F. Reiber, B.S., is a Lead Teaching Assistant at Ball State University. Her research interests include gambling, social class, and victimization. She will soon be attending law school to study criminal law.