Prevalence estimates of gambling participation and problem gambling among 16 to 18 year old students in Iceland: A comparison of the SOGS-RA and DSM-IV-MR-J

The aim of this study was to estimate gambling participation and problem gambling among Icelandic adolescents. Participants were 750 16–18-year-old students, 371 girls and 379 boys. The rate of problem gambling was estimated with the SOGS-RA and DSM-IV-MR-J. Results indicated that 96 % of adolescents had gambled in their lifetime, 79% at least once in the preceding year and about 10 % gamble at least once a week. A psychometric evaluation of the two screening scales revealed satisfactory reliabilities and factor structures for both scales. The DSM-IV-MR-J identified 2 % of the participants as problem gamblers while SOGS-RA identified 2.7%, and problem gambling was more common among boys than girls. It was concluded that problem gambling among adolescents is an area of concern for the Icelandic community that needs to be further investigated. KEY WORDS: adolescent; gambling; problem gambling; SOGS-RA; DSM-IV-MR-J