Report
Lived experiences of gambling in teenage boys and young men: Qualitative research
Qualitative research to explore the lived experiences of teenage boys and young men aged 14 to 25 years.
Contents
- About the research
- Summary of findings
- Research approach
- Findings
-
- Gambling literacy is low and often surface-level
- Gaming as a potential entry point to gambling
- Turning 18 marks a formal transition to "adult" gambling
- Gambling embedded in social life is more likely to persist
- Money matters more with age and experience
- Online exposure makes gambling feel ever-present
- Risks, impacts, and warning signs
- Conclusions
- Appendix
Conclusions
The findings highlight how gambling and gambling-like activities can present in the everyday lives of teenage boys and young men. They reveal how early familiarity, social environments, and personal dispositions interact to shape behaviour and, for some, create pathways towards greater risk.
Pathways into gambling and gambling-like activity
Across participants, routes into gambling often began in childhood through unregulated but legal activities such as Category D arcade machines, claw machines, family scratchcards, and small private bets with friends. These early encounters framed gambling as light-hearted, low-stakes entertainment rather than an age-restricted adult activity.
Alongside this, gaming mechanics such as loot boxes and card packs often reinforced the same feelings of chance, reward, and anticipation, creating additional early touchpoints that felt familiar and safe. Family and friendship groups further encouraged these behaviours: gambling and gambling-like activities were usually experienced as social fun, competition, or bonding.
These patterns show how everyday childhood experiences can bridge gaming and gambling, aligning with the Early gambling experiences and gateway products roadmap.
Gambling as a social and cultural norm
Gambling sits comfortably within young men’s social and digital worlds. It often accompanies watching sport, participating in group chats, and engaging with online humour and influencer content. Betting together or discussing outcomes creates connection and shared excitement, embedding gambling within peer culture. This fluid integration spanning online and offline contexts speaks to the Range and variability of gambling experiences roadmap, showing how gambling fits into broader patterns of leisure and identity.
Transitions, risk and harm
Risk tends to emerge when several factors converge around key life transitions. Turning 18, gaining independent income, and lacking financial experience combine with impulsivity and social encouragement to make gambling feel both accessible and consequence-free. Most participants recognised early warning signs like chasing losses, gambling alone, mood changes, or financial strain, yet often viewed them as normal until harm affected others or disrupted daily life. These insights advance understanding towards the Gambling-related harm and vulnerability roadmap by clarifying how vulnerability develops gradually through circumstance and personality rather than a single event.
Environmental and psychological influences
From family homes to workplaces, the environments surrounding young men can either temper or intensify risk. When gambling is treated as routine by parents or peers, it can reinforce the sense that gambling is "just something people do", making it easier for young men to participate within considering the risks involved. When linked to stress or coping, it appears to provide temporary relief but can deepen emotional strain. The research highlights how social norms, financial freedom, and mental wellbeing can intertwine to shape patterns of play and potential harm.
Implications for prevention and regulation
Taken together, these findings point to prevention opportunities that focus on moments of transition and on socially and culturally reinforced, low-level play that may mask emerging risk. Education and messaging that make early warning signs visible, build financial and emotional literacy, and encourage reflection before or soon after the legal threshold are likely to have the strongest effect as this is when habits are still forming and when many young men first gain independent access to regulated gambling. The insights also speak to the broader emerging activities roadmap, illustrating how blurred boundaries between gaming and gambling sustain risk-taking behaviours long before formal participation begins.
Summary of conclusions
Teenage boys and young men in the sample engage with gambling through familiar, social, and digital channels that make it feel ordinary and safe. Risk builds gradually through accessibility, impulsivity, financial freedom, and peer reinforcement, rather than sudden escalation. Recognising how these factors combine provides a clearer picture of when and why gambling becomes harmful, and strengthens the evidence base across 3 Gambling Commission roadmaps:
- Early gambling experiences and gateway products - by revealing how early in-game activities (like purchasing loot boxes) and family play normalise gambling-like behaviour
- Range and variability of gambling experiences - by showing how gambling fits seamlessly into social and online life
- Gambling-related harm and vulnerability - by identifying the converging factors and warning signs that signal increasing risk.
Collectively, these insights deepen understanding of how gambling journeys take shape among boys and young men and point towards earlier, more targeted prevention within the Commission’s evidence priorities.
These findings also highlight areas for further research. In particular, there is scope to explore how gambling literacy develops among young people, including how they interpret risk, probability, and odds, and to assess the effectiveness of interventions that make these concepts more tangible. Further work could also examine how understanding of harm, control, and reward changes as young people transition into adulthood, complementing ongoing Commission research on consumer comprehension.
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Appendix - Lived experiences of gambling in teenage boys and young men
Last updated: 11 December 2025
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