Research on the Prevalence and Consequences of Sports Betting Among High School Students in Slavonski Brod

Original scientific article

Abstract

Sports betting is nowadays very accessible to everyone, including high school students. It is a common belief that sports betting is just a “harmless” form of entertainment and one of the easiest ways to make money. However, the easy availability and frequency of sports betting can contribute to the development of harmful consequences. This research aimed to determine the extent to which high school seniors represent sports betting, what is their motivation for betting and whether they recognize the harmfulness of excessive use of sports betting activities. The sample of respondents consisted of high school students, that is, students of the Matija Mesić High School in Slavonski Brod and students of the four-year vocational high school programme at the Slavonski Brod Technical
School. The research instrument was a survey questionnaire compiled for the research. The questionnaire measured the frequency of betting, students’ attitudes about betting, motivation to bet, and the like. This research was supposed to confirm the assumption that students bet relatively often and do not recognize the harmful consequences of sports betting that can even lead to addiction. The results showed that half of the high school seniors bet at least once and that students are almost one hundred per cent aware of the harmful consequences that excessive sports betting can cause.