Anxiety and problem gambling in students

The present study analyzes the relationship between trait anxiety and problem gambling in a representative sample of Galician students (N = 1.447), with ages raging from 11 to 16 years old. Anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIC) by Spielberger et al. (1990) and problem gambling using the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised Adolescents (SOGS-RA) by Winters et al. (1993). The results show sex differences in anxiety level, with women scoring higher. Furthermore, this difference becomes greater with age. With regards to gambling behavior, prevalence in this sample was 4.6%. Anxiety levels were higher in the case of at risk gamblers and problem gamblers as opposed to non-gamblers. In addition, those having worse gambling problems show higher anxiety scores when involvement of parents in gambling and academic failure variables are taken into account.