Adolescent gambling: testing the association between self-efficacy beliefs and gambling behavior on a sample of Italian students

Nowadays gambling and Gambling Disorder (DSM -5) among adolescents represent serious concerns in public health. Although in the gambling literature self-efficacy has been examined in the context of treatment of pathological gambling, we hypothesize that it is also crucial as a protective factor. Our research is part of the project "Game Over #insertinfo" financed by Regione Lombardia, which had as a lead institution the City of Busto Arsizio and as a partner the University of Insubria among the partners. The aim of our work was, in addition to investigating gambling involvement and pathological gambling among Italian adolescents aged 14–19, to explore the association between self-efficacy and gambling in the context of the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986). The data were collected on a convenience sample of 560 students (M age = 16.23, SD age = 1.64) from two high schools in Busto Arsizio. The subjects completed (1) a questionnaire about their gambling knowledge and experience; (2) the Italian validation of the South Oaks Gambling Screen Questionnaire Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA); and (3) the Scale of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy, the Scale of Perceived Scholastic Self-Efficacy and the Scale of Perceived Self-Regulatory Self-Efficacy, which all have been validated for Italian adolescents. The statistical analyses show the role of self-efficacy as a pivotal protective factor from "at risk" and "problem gambling". These results suggest that self-efficacy should be taken into greater consideration in future research on adolescent gambling and in problem-gambling prevention programs.