Exploring the changing landscape of gambling in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood

This report examines how gambling is changing in New South Wales, particularly amongst youth, due to the emergence of new forms of gambling and gambling-like products. New gambling products include those that are regulated as gambling, including betting on esports and betting on fantasy sports (including daily fantasy sports [DFS]). Gambling-like products include gambling-style games, such as social casino games, which are not regulated as gambling. Additional new products including loot boxes and skin gambling meet definitions of gambling, but are not regulated as such in New South Wales. The 2018-2021 Office of Responsible Gambling Strategic Plan states that there is “little evidence into potential harms arising from these forms of gambling”. This report helps to address this gap. The specific research questions for this study are: Research question 1: How are the formative gambling experiences of young adults (cohort aged 18-24 years) in New South Wales different from the experiences of an older cohort (aged 25-29 years)? Research question 2: What association can be made between early experiences with specific emerging technologies (e.g., social casino games, loot boxes, skin gambling, fantasy sports betting, esports betting) and gambling harm? Survey results o The older cohort (25-29) was more likely to have taken part in each traditional form of gambling in the last 12 months, and (based on recall) over their lifetime. o The younger cohort (18-24) was more likely to have taken part in most emerging forms of gambling and simulated gambling, apart from forms that involve expenditure (paid social casino games, paid fantasy sports, betting on esports). o The younger cohort was more likely to recall first taking part in each traditional form while under the age of 18. o The younger cohort was also more likely to recall first taking part in each emerging form while under the age of 18. o The older cohort was more likely to recall being exposed to gambling via adults in their household, including parents, although the younger cohort still recalled being exposed to gambling in this way. o Recalled lifetime use and frequency of engagement during the last 12 months were associated with lifetime and recent gambling-related harm, for all of the eleven emerging forms. o Those who recalled first engaging in each emerging form while underage were not significantly more likely to have experienced gambling related harm. Those who recalled first engaging while over the age of 18 were significantly more likely to have experienced harm in the last 12 months. o The associations between each emerging form and harm remained statistically significant when controlling for age, impulsivity and engagement in traditional forms of gambling, and using nonparametric analyses, indicating robust effects. While lower uptake of traditional forms of gambling amongst young people may help to reduce gambling harm, the higher uptake of emerging forms may sustain or even increase gambling harm in the future. Each gambling form was associated with gambling-related harm in the present study. Our conclusions are that these emerging forms are not benign, and warrant additional attention because they appeal to younger people, who are vulnerable to harm. Because gambling technologies can change quickly, it will be important to continue to study new forms of gambling and simulated gambling going forward. Since each form differs in terms of how it operates and how it is currently regulated, any changes to regulations will need to be considered on a form-by-form basis.