Video lottery terminal access and gambling among high school students in Montréal.
BACKGROUND
Gambling is a risky behaviour that involves uncertain financial outcomes, can be addictive, and has been associated with strongly adverse social and public health outcomes. We wanted to assess whether socio-economic and gambling-related-opportunity environments of neighbourhoods affected the uptake of video lottery terminal (VLT) gambling among Montréal youth.


METHODS
Spatial and statistical analyses were conducted to examine geographical patterns of neighbourhood socio-economic conditions, VLT sites (n=407), and high school locations (n=305) within the Montréal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). VLT concentration within high school neighbourhoods was measured to examine how the number of VLT opportunities varies according to socio-economic status of the school neighbourhood. A student survey was analyzed using logistic regression analysis to explore the role of individual (student) characteristics and environmental (neighbourhood) characteristics in predicting the VLT gambling behaviours reported among a sample (n=1206) of high school students.


RESULTS
Video lottery gambling opportunities are more prevalent near schools located in socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods compared with schools located in more affluent neighbourhoods. The principal individual risk factors for VLT gambling were shown to be male sex, peer VLT-use, substance use, as well as the after-school routines of youth.


CONCLUSIONS
The spatial distribution of VLTs reflects local geographies of socio-economic disadvantage and may have a pronounced impact on students attending schools in lower income neighbourhoods, especially those with individual risk factors. Efforts to reduce gambling-related public health costs may want to take into account the socio-spatial distribution of gambling opportunities, particularly in the local environments that youth frequent.
Wilson
Dana Helene
DH
Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, QC. dana.wilson@mail.mcgill.ca
Gilliland
Jason
J
Ross
Nancy A
NA
Derevensky
Jeffery
J
Gupta
Rina
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D016288:Computer Terminals / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011792:Quebec; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000145:classification; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population; D018910:Video Games / Q000600:supply & distribution*