Student Gambling at Colleges as Serious as Substance Abuse

By Leslie Davis

College students often stumble into class after a particularly late night of cramming, researching or, of course, partying. These days, it’s also likely that they stayed up all night gambling online or with friends.

Nearly half of all college students participate in some form of gambling, whether it’s betting on sports, taking a chance with the lottery or playing poker with roommates. Research has shown that anywhere from 3 percent to 11 percent of college students have serious gambling problems, putting them at risk for failing out of school, accruing more debt than just school loans and ruining relationships.

“Many college students assume gambling is a risk-free activity; however, perception does not match reality,” read the executive summary of a recent report by the Task Force on College Gambling Policies. “Research has shown that for a segment of college students, gambling for fun can turn into a serious preoccupation that adversely affects their lives.”

Policies on Gambling

While most colleges do what they can to target the abuse of drugs and alcohol on campus, only 22 percent have policies in place for dealing with student gambling, according to the task force.

To remedy this, the task force suggested that colleges treat gambling as a health issue, and put into place any or all of 10 recommended policies:

1. Establish a campus-wide committee to develop and monitor a comprehensive policy on gambling.
2. Ensure that college policies are consistent with applicable local, state and federal laws.
3. Strive for consistency and universal application with prohibitions and restrictions on gambling and alcohol use at special events.
4. Promote campus-community collaborations that focus on reducing problems with student drinking and gambling.
5. Encourage adjustments in disciplinary actions applied to violators of gambling rules if the student seeks assistance from health or counseling services.
6. Make reasonable accommodations for students focused on recovery from a problem with gambling or alcohol.
7. Measure student attitudes, behaviors and problems with gambling through campus surveys or by incorporating such measures into existing campus health-related surveys.
8. Promote campus-wide awareness of (1) pathological gambling as a mental health disorder that has a high rate of comorbidity with alcohol use and other addictive disorders, and (2) responsible gaming principles.
9. Employ evidence-based strategies to identify and help students with gambling and alcohol problems.
10. Strengthen the capacity of counseling services to identify and treat gambling disorders.

“We know from research that when higher education institutions adopt and enforce clear policies, they can be very effective in preventing students from experiencing negative consequences from their decisions around health issues and can help them learn healthy habits they can take with them after college” said Kristy Wanner, a member of the task force and the gambling prevention coordinator for Missouri Partners in Prevention at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

“The recommendations of the task force can help schools across the country create and establish policies on gambling that will support the entire campus community through education, training, prevention, treatment and recovery,” she continued.

Other Risky Behaviors

The Task Force on College Gambling Policies reported in its executive summary that gambling by college-aged students is highly correlated to other risky behaviors, such as binge drinking. Compulsive gambling may also co-occur with addictions to alcohol and drugs.

Fewer than 30 percent of schools have policies that promote recovery from addictive disorders, said the task force. Instead, schools punish violators and do not provide much education or help on addiction.

“If a student presents himself to a university health service with a physical problem such as kidney disease or a fractured hip, the college will bend over backward to assist the student,” Peter Emerson, the task force’s chairman, said in a Sept. 29 Associated Press article. “Addiction is a different category.”

Compulsive gambling is an addiction that is characterized by a pathological need to gamble despite experiencing detrimental effects. Most compulsive gamblers have a hard time quitting on their own, and seek support through groups, therapy or residential treatment centers that specialize in gambling.

For college students, not engaging in gambling may be even more difficult, given that the behavior is so prevalent on college campuses and among their peers. On-campus support may go a long way to helping these students take their focus off gambling and put it back onto their studies.