Video lottery terminal access and gambling among high school students in Montreal

Background: Gambling is a risky behaviour that involves uncertain financial outcomes, can be addictive, and has been associated with strongly adverse social and public health outcomes. We wanted to assess whether socio-economic and gambling-related-opportunity environments of neighbourhoods affected the uptake of video lottery terminal (VLT) gambling among Montreal youth. Methods: Spatial and statistical analyses were conducted to examine geographical patterns of neighbourhood socio-economic conditions, VLT sites (n=407), and high school locations (n=305) within the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). VLT concentration within high school neighbourhoods was measured to examine how the number of VLT opportunities varies according to socio-economic status of the school neighbourhood. A student survey was analyzed using logistic regression analysis to explore the role of individual (student) characteristics and environmental (neighbourhood) characteristics in predicting the VLT gambling behaviours reported among a sample (n=1206) of high school students. Results: Video lottery gambling opportunities are more prevalent near schools located in socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods compared with schools located in more affluent neighbourhoods. The principal individual risk factors for VLT gambling were shown to be male sex, peer VLT-use, substance use, as well as the after-school routines of youth. Interpretation: The spatial distribution of VLTs reflects local geographies of socioeconomic disadvantage and may have a pronounced impact on students attending schools in lower income neighbourhoods, especially those with individual risk factors. Efforts to reduce gambling-related public health costs may want to take into account the sociospatial distribution of gambling opportunities, particularly in the local environments that youth frequent.