Abstract

Young adults in universities are at higher risk for excessive gambling and several associated risk behaviors such as excessive drinking and substance use. The objectives of this project are three-fold: 1) to describe the gambling habits among undergraduate university students exploring patterns of gambling on a wide variety of activities and considering the physical location and the type of gambling partners; 2) to examine the differences between non-social gamblers, at-risk gamblers and problem gamblers; and 3) to assess the relationships between severity of gambling problems and other associated problems such as hazardous drinking, illicit drug use and psychological distress. The findings are expected to provide a reliable portray of gambling habits among undergraduate students to purposively identify needs for prevention and services among this vulnerable population.