Ett spel med många konsekvenser : En kvantitativ studie om 16-18 åringars spelvanor

Sammanfattning: Gambling is an increasing problem in society and can cause a wide spectrumof difficulties for individuals since gambling does not only affect peopleeconomically, but also socially and health-wise. A lot of the previousresearch focuses on adults and not adolescents. This is problematic sincemany individuals who develop a gambling addiction initiate the habit at ayoung age, which creates a need for research on adolescents gambling habits.The aim of the study is to gain more knowledge about adolescents gamblinghabits. Besides getting knowledge about the gambling habits in general thestudy also highlights the consequences the gambling entails, the indicationsof gambling addiction and the correlation between the parents’ life situationand the adolescents gambling habits. To gain more knowledge about theadolescents gambling habits can imply better help for the individuals whohave created a problematic gambling habit. It can also be useful in the workto prevent adolescents from developing a gambling addiction.The method used to collect the data for this study was online-surveys. Thesurvey was sent, by email, to every high school in 10 different regions inSweden. In this email school staff was asked to send the survey to thestudents in the school. This way the study only reached the intended agegroup.The results of this study show a broad variety in the participants gamblinghabits. The main findings of the study showed that some gambling habitswere more common among adolescents. The findings showed that one of theconsequences were more common than the other consequences and that therewere connections between shame and consequences. The study showedbarely any indications of gambling addiction amongst the adolescents butsome connections between the parents' living situation and the adolescentsgambling habits.The conclusion of this study is that it can be difficult to fully comprehendgambling problems and how they develop. As the study shows, many factorshave an affect on the individuals gambling habits. Gaining knowledge aboutadolescents gambling habits is of importance to discover and recognizewarning signs of a developing addiction. Due to increased access and a largervariation of games the need for further research is necessary to get a greatercomprehension of the gambling habits and further knowledge of warningsigns.