Adolescent gambling and school performance. A qualitative study

Specialised literature underlined that gambling is a common activity among young people and that pathological gamblers are more likely to have poor school performance. However, little is known about how gambling is perceived by gambling and non-gambling adolescents. This study is part of the project "Game Over #insertinfo" and explores the manifestations and consequences of gambling and its links with school performance through the perceptions of a sample of 63 Italian students (13-19 years of age), who took part in one of four focus group sessions. The focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and entered into Atlas.ti for analysis. All data were systematically reduced to codes by two qualitative analysts following an inductive approach, based on grounded theory, which allowed themes and key findings to emerge. The investigation showed that a) bets through a mobile device are the most frequent; 2) adolescents also gamble at school; c) only excessive gambling is perceived as a risk for school success, and d) it affects school attendance, study motivation and concentration during lessons and homework, but also relationships with peers and teachers, and even mental health. The study suggests that reducing gambling involvement through early prevention may curb the decline in school performance.