Online Gambling Among Iceland Teenagers Prompts Prevention Calls

REYKJAVIK, Iceland: Around 40% of upper secondary students in Iceland say they gambled in the past year, according to a new youth survey.

The findings are raising concern among researchers because online slots, betting and casino-style products are reaching young people already showing signs of worsening mental wellbeing.

The University of Iceland’s Icelandic Youth Survey asked upper secondary students about gambling for the first time as part of its wider research into youth wellbeing and attitudes. Researchers said the results show a need for stronger prevention efforts aimed at children, adolescents and young adults.

Online Slots Lead Youth Gambling Activity

The survey found gambling was more common among boys and young men than girls and young women. Nearly 55% of men aged 18 and older said they had gambled in the previous year, compared with 33% of women in the same age group.

The figures were also high among students under 18. Just over 44% of boys under 18 reported gambling during the previous 12 months, while around 28% of girls under 18 said the same.

Online slot machines were the most common form of gambling reported by respondents, with 15% saying they had tried them. Scratch cards, bingo and money games such as poker followed, while just over 11% had placed online bets and 9% had used online casinos.

Ragný Þóra Guðjohnsen, associate professor at the University of Iceland and academic director of the Youth in Iceland survey, said the share of young people reporting gambling was too high. She said stronger prevention was needed because young adults aged 18 to 25 form the country’s largest gambling group and may face financial and mental health problems alongside gambling.

Mental Wellbeing Adds to Concern

The survey also pointed to worsening mental wellbeing among young people. Forty percent of young women said they felt lonely often or all the time, an increase of 10 percentage points from the previous survey two years earlier.

Frequent loneliness also increased among young men. Just over 30% reported feeling lonely often or all the time, compared with around 24% in the previous survey.

Ragný Þóra said emotional distress, loneliness and relationship problems are recognized risk factors for gambling involvement. Nearly one in four respondents reported problems in relationships with peers, which she said could increase the risk of young people turning to online gambling and becoming more socially isolated.

The findings connect youth gambling with wider public health concerns rather than treating it only as a legal or consumer issue. Researchers said prevention should involve families, schools, leisure activities and the wider community, rather than relying only on clinical services for young people already in distress.

Prevention Calls Follow New Survey Data

The results are notable because the Icelandic Youth Survey had not previously included gambling questions for upper secondary students. That makes the latest data an early benchmark for how widespread gambling activity may be among teenagers and young adults in Iceland.

The survey also suggests that gambling participation varies by age and gender, with boys and young men reporting higher rates. Researchers said those patterns matter for prevention work because online products can be accessed privately and may be harder for adults to detect than land-based gambling.

The next step is likely to be closer scrutiny of responsible gambling prevention in Iceland, especially around online casino-style products and betting. The survey gives schools, public health officials and policymakers new evidence as they consider how to respond to gambling activity among teenagers.

RELATED TOPICS: Responsible Gambling