A cross-cultural study of gambling behaviour among adolescents

This study investigated whether the prevalence of weekly and problem gambling among youth varied according to cultural affiliation. A convenience sample of 1,265 Quebec high school students aged 12-18 was divided into three linguistic groupings: Anglophone (English), Francophone (French), and Allophone (other). Results revealed that the Allophone grouping contained the highest proportion of youth who gambled on a weekly basis and who reported gambling problems, followed by the Anglophone, and finally the Francophone groupings. Acculturation difficulties were associated with problem gambling. Few meaningful between- group differences were found with respect to factors related to problem gambling (i. e., comorbidity with other risk factors, coping, family functioning and resiliency). The results are discussed with respect to the influence of cultural background on gambling behavior.