Predicting Sports Betting Intentions Among Adolescents: Gender-Specific Pathways in the Reasoned Action Approach

Sports betting among adolescents is a growing public health concern, yet the social-cognitive mechanisms driving sports betting intentions in legally underage populations remain largely underexplored. This study applied the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) to sports betting intentions in a large sample of secondary school students (N = 1,215; age range 13-19). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the extent to which sports betting-specific attitudes (instrumental and affective), perceived norms (injunctive and descriptive), and perceived behavioral control (capacity and autonomy) predicted sports betting intention, and whether these relationships were invariant across gender. The model explained 38.0% of variance in sports betting intention. Instrumental attitude and descriptive norms emerged as significant predictors. Multi-group analysis confirmed metric invariance across gender. The pattern of RAA predictors was consistent across groups, although structural paths were not fully invariant, with household income emerging as a gender-specific predictor of sports betting intention among female adolescents. Because both instrumental attitude and descriptive norms are strongly shaped by the commercial and media-driven normalization of sports betting, findings suggest that prevention efforts should target cognitive outcome evaluations and perceived peer betting norms, and that these pathways are relevant for both male and female adolescents.