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Bonus TL;DR
- Rutgers researchers found that 42.7% of US teens ages 13 to 17 reported gambling in the past year, according to RG.
- Rutgers researchers recommended middle-school prevention education and stronger oversight of prediction markets and social casino games.
Rutgers researchers found that 42.7% of US teens ages 13 to 17 gambled in the past year, according to RG.
About 11% of teen gamblers were classified as high risk. The findings underpin researchers’ recommendations for earlier prevention education and stronger oversight of gambling products.
The nationally representative survey included 1,677 people ages 13 to 27, using NORC’s AmeriSpeak panel. Researchers collected responses from April 24 to July 4, 2026. The maximum margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points overall and 6.1 points for teens.
Across the full age range, 52.5% reported gambling in the past year. Among those who gambled, 39.5% showed some symptoms of problem gambling and 10.3% were classified as high risk.
Prediction Market Users Show Elevated Risk
Prediction market users accounted for 6.6% of gamblers in the survey. Within that group, 39.8% were classified as high-risk problem gamblers, and 31.7% participated weekly, the highest weekly participation share of any activity studied.
Sports bettors also showed elevated risk. Among respondents who bet on sports, 63.1% showed some level of problem gambling risk and 14.5% were classified as high risk.
Family gambling exposure was linked to youth risk. 41.1% of respondents said a family or household member gambled. Respondents who believed someone in their household had a gambling problem were more than five times as likely to be high-risk gamblers.
Among high-risk problem gamblers, 52.8% reported anxiety, 38.4% reported depression and 13.1% reported suicidal ideation.
Researchers Recommend Earlier Prevention and National Standards
Researchers recommended starting gambling-prevention education in middle school and strengthening oversight of prediction markets and social casino games.
They also proposed a federal gambling regulatory agency with national minimum standards, including self-exclusion, and an office for problem gambling within the National Institutes of Health.
The study was funded by a Center of Excellence grant from the International Center for Responsible Gaming.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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Source: As reported by RG.
