Gambling and health risk behaviors among U.S. college student-athletes: findings from a national study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine prevalence and associations of gambling problems and health risk behaviors among college athletes from the first national survey of gambling among U.S. college student-athletes.


METHODS
Conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), this self-administered and anonymous survey collected information from a nationally representative sample of 20,739 student-athletes.


RESULTS
Males consistently had higher past-year prevalence of gambling than females (e.g., 62.4% of males reported some type of gambling vs. 42.8% of females). Based on DSM-IV Gambling Screen, this study identified 4.3% of males and 0.4% of females as problem/pathological gamblers. A general upward trend existed that as the level of gambling problems increased, so did the prevalence of substance use, gorging/vomiting, and unprotected sex. Cross-group comparisons by gambler type were all significant. Problem and pathological gamblers also experienced significantly more drug/alcohol-related problems than non-gamblers and social gamblers.


CONCLUSIONS
Direct associations found between gambling and multiple risk behaviors in college student-athletes support the persistence of the youth problem-behavior syndrome and suggest the need for multi-faceted initiatives to tackle these risk behaviors simultaneously.
Huang
Jiun-Hau
JH
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. jiun-hau.huang@mcgill.ca <jiun-hau.huang@mcgill.ca>
Jacobs
Durand F
DF
Derevensky
Jeffrey L
JL
Gupta
Rina
R
Paskus
Thomas S
TS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012309:Risk-Taking; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013177:Sports; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities