- The guide to early detection and prevention of dangerous gambling is aimed at young people and their environment. "Gambling problems can be common to anyone, but in particular they are the vulnerable collective," says the Basque Government.
How to reduce the risk?
The guide for early detection and prevention of risk gambling is divided into seven groups. It collects types of games and their addictive ability and risk factors, as well as alarm signals and the consequences of pathological gambling, among others.
In order to reduce the risk and increase the protection of this vulnerable group, a series of measures are proposed: to adapt the behavior of adults in the family to play when they are minors, to avoid contact with the game at early ages, to supervise the digital activity of minors, to develop skills to cope with situations of social pressure related to the game, to promote leisure activities and free time incompatible with the game, to promote activities or events that can normalize competitions or tournaments. ).
Screening and screening for pathological gambling are also recommended, and a list of counseling and treatment sites for people who have fallen or are at risk of falling into the pathological game can be found.
In play since they were minors
According to the Youth and Game report of the Basque Game Observatory of the Game 2021 held this year in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, 24.9% of the youth report having played and wagered randomly in the last year, and although the legal age for playing and betting is 18 years, the majority (31.8%) recognize that they started playing when they were minors. With the game begins that first contact with another person, in most cases with someone in the family. In addition, most young people (78.6%) acknowledge having seen relatives in gambling when they were children, even at home.
The most common thing is to play face to face (69.1%), but the online game grows (10.1%). 20.8% combine both types of play. The games that young people choose most are the lottery (27.1%), sports betting (17.5%), casino games (16.9%) and type B machines (12.1%). The most chosen online games are sports betting (57.9%), Primitiva (9.9%) and online casino (8.9%).