Advertising Games of Chance in Adolescents and Young Adults in Spain

Gambling advertising can influence attitudes and gaming behavior of adolescents and young adults (A&Y). To study the effect of advertising on the attitudes and gaming behavior of a sample of 2887 Spanish A&Y (12–22 years old), by means of a self-report assessment. On average, participants show a weak effect of advertising, however there are great variations, estimating that 11% of A&Y acknowledge being influenced by advertising and 5% recognize being severely affected. Men see themselves more impacted than women, without age differences. Those who play videogames signal a stronger effect of this kind of advertising and although these differences are not substantial in effect size, they reach statistically significance in 12 of the 13 questions assessed. A&Y who showed higher scores indicating problematic use of videogames in the IDGS9-SF, are those who indicate a greater impact of advertising on their attitudes towards gaming, as well as on the way they play or on their intention to play. These results support the idea that videogames can, albeit modestly, predispose engagement in games of chance.