[Adolescent pathological gambling]

Although experts have long thought that the problems of gambling involved only adults, recent studies tend to show that teenagers are also affected.

The objective of this paper is to show the characteristics of pathological gambling in adolescents. This review focuses on the clinical features, prevalence, psychopathology, prevention and treatment of this disorder.

A review of the medical literature was conducted, using PubMed, using the following keywords alone or combined: pathological gambling, dependence, addiction and adolescents. We selected 12 English articles from 1997 to 2014.

Recent work estimate that between 4 and 8% of adolescents suffer from problem gambling, and the prevalence of pathological gambling is 2-4 times higher in adolescents than in adults. The term adolescent pathological gambler starts early around the age of 10-12 years, with a quick change of status from casual to that of problem gambler and player. Complications appear quickly and comorbidities are common. There is no curative pharmacological treatment approved by health authorities.

Pathological gambling among adolescents has grown significantly in recent years and should be promptly taken care of. Further studies must be performed to improve our understanding of this problem among adolescents.