Parents' attitudes, knowledge, and behavior toward youth gambling: a five-year follow-up.

This study compares the attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of parents of 5- to 17-year-old children regarding youth gambling. This information was obtained through two telephone surveys conducted in 1995, and 5 years later in 2000, in the Québec City area. Survey 1, in 1995, was conducted on 279 respondents, while survey 2, in 2000, was carried out with 213 respondents. Results showed a number of changes in parents' attitudes, behavior, and knowledge concerning youth gambling: For example, parents' perception of the age of onset of gambling behavior had improved slightly at the end of the 5-year period. Furthermore, parents were more satisfied with government limitation of access to gambling, and more accurately informed about legal aspects of the sale of lottery tickets. However, the percentage of parents who failed to associate youth gambling with some of its correlates (arcade attendance, parental gambling problems, and friendship with gamblers) increased from 1995 to year 2000. The improvements that were observed suggested that parents had benefited from media-transmitted information during this period. However, the deterioration of some parental attitudes, and the stability of other variables, suggest that it is still important to educate parents about youth gambling, and to design interventions adapted to parents' needs.