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. 2023 Jun;39(2):971-985.
doi: 10.1007/s10899-023-10205-2. Epub 2023 Apr 8.

Problem Gambling Among Adolescents in Uganda: A Cross-sectional Survey Study

Michael U Anyanwu  1 , Zsolt Demetrovics  2   3 , Mark D Griffiths  4 , Zsolt Horváth  2   3 , Andrea Czakó  2   3 , Francis Bajunirwe  1 , Imelda Tamwesigire  1
Affiliations

Problem Gambling Among Adolescents in Uganda: A Cross-sectional Survey Study

Michael U Anyanwu et al. J Gambl Stud. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

In recent years, gambling has evolved and grown substantially with new gambling activities and facilities being introduced, making gambling products and opportunities more available than ever before in Uganda. While the growth of gambling industry is considered to have a beneficial impact on the economy, it is increasingly becoming a social and public health issue especially among a minority of young people who experience problem gambling, which can damage personal, family, vocational, and academic pursuits. The present study estimated the prevalence of problem gambling and identified the socio-demographic, school, environmental and health risks of problem gambling among secondary school students in Mbarara Municipality, Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted among secondary school students in Mbarara Municipality. A total of 921 students from 12 schools were recruited using cluster sampling. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to explore the relationship between problem gambling and the socio-demographic, academic, environmental and health variables. Of 905 participants, 362 reported having ever gambled (40%), and 160 were classified as problem gamblers (17.7%; 44.2% among those who had ever gambled). Problem gambling was significantly associated with being male, being non-religious, other religion (African traditional religion), having employment (outside of school), distance to nearest gambling venue, parental gambling, peer gambling, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and psychological distress. The present study found a very high prevalence of problem gambling among Ugandan secondary school students. Therefore, there is need to institute public health measures towards raising awareness, prevention and treatment of problem gambling among Ugandan adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescence; Adolescent gambling; Gambling; Problem gambling; Uganda.

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Conflict of interest statement

ELTE Eötvös Loránd University receives funding from the Szerencsejáték Ltd. to maintain a telephone helpline service for problematic gambling. ZD has also been involved in research on responsible gambling funded by Szerencsejáték Ltd. and the Gambling Supervision Board and provided educational materials for the Szerencsejáték Ltd’s responsible gambling program. The University of Gibraltar receives funding from the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation. MDG’s university has received funding from Norsk Tipping (the gambling operator owned by the Norwegian Government). MDG has received funding for a number of research projects in the area of gambling education for young people, social responsibility in gambling and gambling treatment from Gamble Aware (formerly the Responsibility in Gambling Trust), a charitable body which funds its research program based on donations from the gambling industry. MDG undertakes consultancy for various gaming companies in the area of social responsibility in gambling. However, these sources of funding are not related to this study and the funding institutions had no role in the study design or the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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