Report

Young People and Gambling 2023

Gambling Commission report produced by Ipsos on young people and their gambling behaviour, attitudes and awareness in 2023.

---

Published
16 November 2023

Last updated
15 December 2023 - Changes

Document actions
Print or save

Contents

• Young People and Gambling 2023

---

• Executive summary
• - Introduction
• - Headline statistics
• - Presentation and interpretation of data
• - Acknowledgements
• Young people’s active involvement in gambling
• - Summary
• - Young people's active involvement in gambling
• - Variations in active involvement in gambling
• - Variations in active involvement in types of gambling activities
• - Prevalence of non-problem, at risk or problem gambling
• - Problem gambling by gender
• - Problem gambling by age
• - Problem gambling by ethnicity
• Experience of gambling
• - Summary
• - Overall gambling experience
• - Overall gambling experience in the last 12 months
• - Variations in gambling experience
• The Impact of gambling on young people
• - Summary
• - How gambling impacts on relations with friends and family
• - How gambling makes young people feel
• - The impact of gambling on sleep
• - The impact of gambling on spending
• - The impact of gambling on schoolwork
• - Experience and impact of family members’ gambling
• Online gambling
• - Summary
• - Young people’s active involvement in online gambling
• - Overall experience of online gambling
• - Online gambling using parent's or guardian's accounts
• - Awareness and use of in-game items in video games
• - Awareness and use of virtual money or tokens to bet on sports matches
• National Lottery play
• - Summary
• - Young people’s active involvement with lottery products
• - Wider experience of lottery games
• - Buying a National Lottery draw ticket or scratchcard
• - Who young people are with when playing a National Lottery product
• Games and gaming machines
• - Summary
• - Young people’s active involvement in games and gaming machines
• - Overall experience of games and gaming machines play
• - Who is with young people when they play gaming machines
• - Types of gaming machines
• - Play in an adults-only area
• The Context for gambling participation
• - Summary
• - Setting gambling in the context of other risk-taking behaviours
• - Setting gambling in the context of other activities
• - Reasons why young people gamble
• - Why young people do not gamble
• - Who young people were with when they gambled
• Attitudes towards and exposure to gambling
• - Summary
• - Young people's views on gambling
• - Feeling informed about gambling
• - Being stopped from gambling
• - Young people's exposure to gambling adverts and promotions and frequency of exposure
• - Content of gambling adverts and promotions seen
• - Whether ever prompted to gamble by adverts and promotions
• - Following gambling companies on social media
• Appendices
• - Applying the DSM-IV-MR-J problem gambler screen
• - Research design
• - Sample profile
• List of gambling activities and definitions
• - List of gambling activities
• - Definitions

Introduction

This report contains the findings from the Gambling Commission’s annual study, produced by Ipsos, exploring gambling behaviours among young people in Great Britain.

The survey examined gambling experience and behaviours, such as where young people gamble and with whom, perceptions of gambling and awareness of gambling advertising. The survey also asked a series of questions relating to potential issues associated with gambling and utilised the problem gambling screen Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition - Multiple Response Juvenile (DSM-IV-MR-J) to classify gamblers as at risk or problem gamblers. Before the 2022 survey took place, the Gambling Commission conducted a programme of research to improve the collection of official statistics around gambling participation.

The research was conducted in schools, with pupils completing online self-completion surveys in class. The study collected data from a sample of 3,453 11 to 17 year olds attending academies, maintained and independent schools in England, Scotland, and Wales. In previous years the survey has collected data from 11 to 16 year olds, in school years 7 to 11 in academies and maintained secondary schools. This year an addition was made to include 17 year olds, those in year 12, as well as pupils from independent schools. Fieldwork took place between February to July 2023. Further details of the methodology, sampling and weighting processes, and sample profile are included in the Appendices of this report.

Next section
Headline statistics

---

Last updated: 15 December 2023

Show updates to this content

Broken link fixed