SURVEY | Local youths show increasing symptoms of gambling addiction

Vincent Yp, executive director of BYS

A survey conducted by the Bosco Youth Service Network (BYS) found that young people in Macau are displaying more symptoms of gambling addiction.  There has also been a surge in sports betting participation in 2014.
This is the sixth year in which the group has conducted a survey on the gambling situation amongst Macau’s young people. Between September and December 2014, BYS received 802 valid questionnaires from local secondary school pupils aged between 14 and 21, with half of the respondents aged between 13 and 15 years old. After gathering the data, BYS then used the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) to assess to what extent a respondent is likely to suffer from a gambling addiction. The results showed that the amount of people who scored 0, which indicating their gaming behaviors do not affect their studies, family and interpersonal relationships, was at 79.9 percent. However, the number of respondents scoring 1 to 3, meaning that gambling has serious effect on their studies, family and interpersonal relationships, has risen from 14.2 percent in 2013 to 17.1 percent in 2014. As for those who scored 4 points or above, which suggests a gaming addiction, the figure increased from 2.2 to 3 percent. The above figures did not only exceed those in 2013; they were also the highest in the six-year history of the survey.
While it is more likely for male respondents to attain a higher score, the survey found that the number of female respondents scoring 1 – 3 points rose from 7.5 percent in 2013 to 13.5 percent in 2014, a considerable change noted by BYS. However, it is unclear as to whether the surge is an incidental phenomenon.
Moreover, BYS found that there has been a surge in participation in football betting in 2014, from 3.8 percent in 2013 to 9.1 percent last year. This makes it the third most popular gaming item after poker (28.3 percent) and mahjong (22.6 percent). The increase is attributed to the World Cup that took place during June and July in 2014. Online gaming, which was the third most popular gaming item in 2013, went down one place and ranked fourth in the 2014 survey. However, a rise in participation from 5.8 percent to 8.2 percent was still recorded.
Vincent Yp, executive director of BYS, speculated that the increase in the figures was partly due to the fact that the respondents in this year’s survey were born in the early 2000s. This could mean that they have a different understanding of gambling compared to the respondents in the previous five years. A better domestic economic situation also means that young people have more money in their hands. And without the teaching of good financial management skills at schools, it is possible that they would spend the money on gambling.
Furthermore, Yp has noticed a trend where, although parents may explicitly forbid their children from gambling, they may not oppose their children’s playing poker or mahjong. Yp believes that parents should have a clear understanding of gambling and adopt a stance which strictly reflects this.
In terms of the measures to prevent young people from participating in gambling, Yp said that young people enjoy group activities; this can be seen as a measure to keep them from participating in gambling activities. “When young people have the space to develop and activities to participate in, there is less chance for them to gamble. From the young people we have encountered, especially those who were addicted to gambling, many of them only had very few [extra-curricular] activities, [with most of them staying] at home by themselves. Therefore, it would be helpful for the family and the school to encourage students to take part in other activities, which can serve as alternatives [to gambling],” he said.
The executive director also advised parents to better communicate with their children regarding gambling. He suggested that more support and relevant resources be given to education teachers in schools as well.
As for quitting gambling, Yp said that, like other addictions, it is not easy because there are factors that have led a person to the addiction in the first place. “We also see that people will return to gambling after quitting. After all, even if a person can quit gambling for a short time, it is easy for them to return to the addiction if it has become a habit for them,” he said.
Dr Mark Ng from the Hong Kong Shue Yan University Enterprise and Social Development Research Centre, who has assisted the survey, also commented that it is too easy to gamble in Macau, thus making it easier for people to relapse. “If a person quits gambling and goes to a place where they cannot gamble, then the chance of picking up the habit again will be smaller,” he said.