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Full citation
Delfabbro, P., Gavriel-Fried, B., Ricijaš, N., Dodig Hundric, D., & Derevensky, J. (2021). Attitudes toward gambling in young people: A cross-national study of Australia, Canada, Croatia and Israel. International Gambling Studies, 21(2), 326–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2021.1883708
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Region & Target Population
- Regions: Australia, Canada, Croatia, Israel
- Population: University students aged 18–30
Study Design
Cross-sectional, cross-national comparative survey
Sample Characteristics (with data-collection years)
- Total sample: N = 1,787 university students
- Country samples: Roughly balanced across four countries
- Data collection: 2017–2019
Measures Used
- Gambling participation: Past-year engagement and frequency
- Problem gambling: Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)
- Attitudes toward gambling: Attitudes to Gambling Scale (ATG-8)
- Accessibility:41
- Physical accessibility (ease of finding gambling venues)
- Social accessibility (peer and social exposure to gambling)
- Cognitive accessibility (salience, perceived normality, advertising exposure)
Research Questions
- How do gambling attitudes and participation differ across countries with different regulatory regimes?
- Are differences in gambling behavior explained more by accessibility and social exposure than by individual traits?
- How do attitudes toward gambling relate to gambling involvement and risk among emerging adults?
Key Findings
- Cross-national differences in attitudes:
- Students in Australia and Canada reported more positive attitudes toward gambling, reflecting long-standing, liberalized gambling environments.
- Israel showed the most negative attitudes, lowest participation rates, and more restrictive social norms.
- Croatia occupied an intermediate position.
- Accessibility effects:
- Social accessibility (friends who gamble, gambling as a social activity) was thestrongest predictor of positive gambling attitudes across all countries.
- Cognitive accessibility (visibility and salience of gambling) also contributed to favorable attitudes.
- Physical accessibility alone was less predictive once social factors were accounted for.
- Attitudes–behavior link:
- More positive attitudes were associated with higher gambling participation and higher PGSI scores.
- Attitudes acted as a psychological bridge between exposure and behavior.
- Gender pattern: Men reported more positive attitudes and higher participation, but cross-national patterns were consistent across genders.
Study Conclusion
This study demonstrates that emerging-adult gambling attitudes are deeply shaped by regulatory and social environments, not merely individual preferences. In countries with liberalized gambling markets (Australia and Canada), gambling is more socially normalized, cognitively salient, and positively evaluated by young adults. In contrast, more restrictive environments (Israel) foster negative attitudes and lower participation.
The authors conclude that cross-national differences in gambling attitudes and participation among emerging adults align closely with differences in national gambling environments, including how visible and normalized gambling is in everyday life. They emphasize that social and cognitive accessibility peer exposure, social acceptability, and salience are more influential than physical access alone in shaping attitudes. They frame gambling attitudes as contextually produced, reflecting regulatory and cultural environments, and argue that prevention efforts aimed only at restricting access may be insufficient if social normalization remains high. Their conclusion highlights the importance of addressing the attitudinal and normative pathways through which gambling becomes embedded in young people’s lives.
