Attitudes toward gambling in young people: a cross-national study of Australia, Canada, Croatia and Israel

Public attitudes toward gambling have important implications for people’s engagement in the activity and receptivity to regulatory reforms. Such views are likely, however, to be influenced by variations in market conditions, perceptions of regulations and personal exposure to gambling. This article examines whether differences in gambling attitudes are related to differences in the perceived social, cognitive, and physical accessibility of gambling in four countries (Australia, Israel, Croatia and Canada). These countries were selected because they cover a range of gambling regulations, from established liberalized markets (Australia, Canada), to a recently liberalized market (Croatia) to a relatively restricted market (Israel). University student respondents (n = 1787, aged 18–30) were surveyed in these four countries to control for educational differences. Within- gender analyses controlled for differences in gender profile across countries. More positive attitudes were associated with greater social accessibility and more stringent regulations. Australian and Canadian respondents reported more positive attitudes toward gambling and regulations. Israeli respondents reported less positive attitudes and exposure to problem gambling. Croatian respondents reported more positive attitudes, but considered gambling to be poorly regulated and overly available. Overall, attitudes were related to perceptions of regulation as well as the duration of exposure to liberalized markets.