Purpose
The number of Korean adolescents engaging in gambling is increasing, especially among out-of-school adolescents. This study aimed to identify patterns of gambling activities and factors related to specific subgroups of out-of-school adolescent gambling activities.
Methods
This descriptive study analyzed secondary data from the 2015 Korea Youth Gambling Problem Survey, including 1,200 out-of-school adolescents. Latent class analysis was conducted to identify patterns of gambling activities. The factors related to gambling subgroups were verified with multinomial logistic regression.
Results
Three latent classes of gambling activities were identified: rarely gambling (RG), immediate gain gambling (IGG), and broad gambling (BG). These subgroups differed significantly in terms of gender, age at and type of first gambling experience, number and type of gambling activities, gambling frequency, time and money spent on gambling, problem gambling severity, and motivation for gambling. Compared to the RG subgroup, both the IGG and BG subgroups were strongly associated with an older age at the first gambling experience.
Conclusion
Out-of-school adolescents who first gambled at an older age and who gambled mainly in order to gain money immediately were at risk of problem gambling. Developing strategies for early screening and referral to professionals is necessary to prevent gambling problems from worsening.

Citations

• What is known about population level programs designed to address gambling-related harm: rapid review of the evidence
  Samantha Clune, Deepika Ratnaike, Vanessa White, Alex Donaldson, Erica Randle, Paul O’Halloran, Virginia Lewis
  Harm Reduction Journal.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Perceived Gambling Availability and Adolescent Gambling Behavior: the Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy
  Alberto Parrado-González, Fermín Fernández-Calderón, José C. León-Jariego
  International Journal of Mental Health and Addicti.2023; 21(4): 2737.     CrossRef
• Attitudes, Risk Factors, and Behaviours of Gambling among Adolescents and Young People: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis
  Ben J. Riley, Candice Oster, Mubarak Rahamathulla, Sharon Lawn
  International Journal of Environmental Research an.2021; 18(3): 984.     CrossRef