Asians Top the Problem Gambling List

Asians Top the Problem Gambling List
Written by Mark Bennett

A new study by the University of Salford and the National Centre for Social Research has found that Asians in Britain of a certain age are more susceptible to gambling addiction than their white contemporaries.

The survey of 9,000 children between the ages of 11-15 of different ethnic groups showed that Asians were the least likely to take part in gambling, but those that did showed the highest rates of problem gamblers. Only 13% of British Asians that took part in the study were found to be regular gamblers which was lower than the 20% overall rate. However the Asians showed higher rates of developing addictive and problem behaviour including lying to family and friends or using money that was supposed to be for other things.

The study also showed that those that received the most pocket money were also more likely to become addicted.

The most popular forms of gambling were slot machines and betting with friends on card games. While some gambling machines are restricted to over 18s, many of the lower stakes and prize machines have no age restrictions.

"In the Asian community there is strong social disapproval of gambling in general," claimed Professor David Forrest, who overlooked the research. "This means the minority who choose to gamble are already overcoming a barrier - already suffering a cost in terms of social disapproval."

"So probably a lot of Asians who gamble are people drawn to risk-taking whereas among whites many players are not candidates for hardened gambling because they're playing for social reasons rather than a driver in their inner self," he said.

The professor went on to add that many adults with problem gambling issues had taken part in gambling from a young age – some as young as eight years old.

Ruth Champion, who helps run rehabilitation courses for gambling addicts claimed the centre was seeing a younger trend in gambling addictions.

"In the last 5 years we've seen an influx of people getting into trouble younger because gambling has become more prevalent and accessible," she said. "We've seen our average client age go from late thirties to early twenties."