Factors that influence children's gambling attitudes and consumption intentions: Lessons for gambling harm prevention research, policies and advocacy strategies

Background: Harmful gambling is a public health issue that affects not only adults but also children. With the development of a range of new gambling products, and the marketing for these products, children are potentially exposed to gambling more than ever before. While there have been many calls to develop strategies which protect children from harmful gambling products, very little is known about the factors that may influence children's attitudes towards these products. This study aimed to explore children's gambling attitudes and consumption intentions and the range of consumer socialisation factors that may influence these attitudes and behaviours. Methods: Children aged 8 to 16 years old (n = 48) were interviewed in Melbourne, Australia. A semi-structured interview format included activities with children and open-ended questions. We explored children's perceptions of the popularity of different gambling products, their current engagement with gambling, and their future gambling consumption intentions. We used thematic analysis to explore children's narratives with a focus on the range of socialising factors that may shape children's gambling attitudes and perceptions. Results: Three key themes emerged from the data. First, children's perceptions of the popularity of different products were shaped by what they had seen or heard about these products, whether through family activities, the media (and in particular marketing) of gambling products, and/or the alignment of gambling products with sport. Second, children's gambling behaviours were influenced by family members and culturally valued events. Third, many children indicated consumption intentions towards sports betting. This was due to four key factors: (1) the alignment of gambling with culturally valued activities; (2) their perceived knowledge about sport; (3) the marketing and advertising of gambling products (and in particular sports betting); and (4) the influence of friends and family. Conclusions: This study indicates that there is a range of socialisation factors, particularly family and the media (predominantly via marketing), which may be positively shaping children's gambling attitudes, behaviours and consumption intentions. There is a need for governments to develop effective policies and regulations to reduce children's exposure to gambling products and ensure they are protected from the harms associated with gambling. © 2017 The Author(s)

Multiple Frequencies Sequential Coding for SSVEP-Based Brain-Computer Interface

BACKGROUND: Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) has become one of the most promising modalities for a practical noninvasive BCI system. Owing to both the limitation of refresh rate of liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, and the specific physiological response property that only a very small number of stimuli at certain frequencies could evoke strong SSVEPs, the available frequencies for SSVEP stimuli are limited. Therefore, it may not be enough to code multiple targets with the traditional frequencies coding protocols, which poses a big challenge for the design of a practical SSVEP-based BCI. This study aimed to provide an innovative coding method to tackle this problem. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we present a novel protocol termed multiple frequencies sequential coding (MFSC) for SSVEP-based BCI. In MFSC, multiple frequencies are sequentially used in each cycle to code the targets. To fulfill the sequential coding, each cycle is divided into several coding epochs, and during each epoch, certain frequency is used. Obviously, different frequencies or the same frequency can be presented in the coding epochs, and the different epoch sequence corresponds to the different targets. To show the feasibility of MFSC, we used two frequencies to realize four targets and carried on an offline experiment. The current study shows that: 1) MFSC is feasible and efficient; 2) the performance of SSVEP-based BCI based on MFSC can be comparable to some existed systems. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The proposed protocol could potentially implement much more targets with the limited available frequencies compared with the traditional frequencies coding protocol. The efficiency of the new protocol was confirmed by real data experiment. We propose that the SSVEP-based BCI under MFSC might be a promising choice in the future

Young people’s awareness of the timing and placement of gambling advertising on traditional and social media platforms: a study of 11–16-year-olds in Australia

Background Research has demonstrated that the promotion of gambling, particularly within sport, may have a significant impact on positively shaping young people’s attitudes towards gambling. While some governments have implemented restrictions to limit young people’s exposure to gambling advertising, few studies have investigated where young people recall seeing gambling advertising, and whether they perceive that advertising restrictions have gone far enough in reducing exposure to these promotions. Method Mixed methods, interviewer-assisted surveys were conducted with n = 111 young people aged 11–16 years, who were self-reported fans of basketball in Victoria, Australia. Interviews were conducted at basketball stadiums between May and July 2018. The study assessed media viewing patterns; recall and awareness of the timing, placement, and content of gambling advertising; the impact of gambling advertising restrictions; and attitudes towards sporting organisations’ roles in the promotion of gambling. Results The majority of young people recalled seeing gambling advertising on television (n = 101, 91.0%), with most recalling advertising within sporting matches or games (n = 79, 71.2%). Most young people recalled seeing gambling advertising in the early evening before 8:30 pm (n = 75, 67.6%). Just over half of young people described seeing gambling advertisements on social media (n = 61, 55.0%), and over a third (n = 40, 36.0%) recalled gambling advertising on YouTube, predominantly before watching sporting or gaming videos. The majority stated that they continued to watch sport after 8:30 pm (n = 93, 83.7%), which is when restrictions on advertising in live sport in Australia end. The majority (n = 88, 79.3%) stated that there were too many gambling advertisements in sport. Three quarters believed that sporting codes should do more to prevent young people from being exposed to advertising for gambling in sport (n = 84, 75.7%). Conclusions There is now a clear body evidence that current regulatory systems for gambling advertising are ineffective, with further restrictions urgently needed across a range of media channels to prevent exposure to promotions that may encourage young people’s interest and involvement in gambling

Development, implementation, and evaluation of a multi-addiction prevention program for primary school students in Hong Kong : the B.E.S.T. teen program

2015-2016 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe