Sport participation and gambling-related problems in adolescents: findings from a large school-based study

BackgroundAdolescent gambling is increasingly shaped by digital access, sports betting, and gambling-like mechanisms embedded in everyday youth culture. This study examined gambling-related problems among high school students and their associations with sociodemographic, family, mental health-related, and behavioral characteristics, with particular attention to sport participation.MethodsA school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,379 high school students in Novi Sad, Serbia, between 2024 and 2026. Participants completed a structured sociodemographic and behavioral questionnaire and the Serbian version of the Gambling Disorder Identification Test. Students were classified as non-gambling, recreational gambling, or having gambling-related problems. Associations between gambling categories and selected characteristics were examined using omnibus chi-square tests, Cramér's V, and post-hoc pairwise comparisons.ResultsOverall, 1,969 students (82.8%) were classified as non-gambling, 314 (13.2%) as recreational gambling, and 96 (4.0%) as having gambling-related problems. Gambling category was significantly associated with male sex, lower school achievement, living arrangement, parental marital status, sport participation, previous psychiatric treatment, family psychiatric history, smoking, alcohol use, and psychoactive substance use. In the univariate analyses, sport participation increased from 64.0% among non-gambling students to 75.2% among recreational gamblers and 78.1% among students with gambling-related problems. Post-hoc comparisons showed that sport participation differentiated non-gambling students from both gambling-involved groups, but not recreational gambling from gambling-related problems. However, after adjustment for sex and other relevant behavioral and mental health-related characteristics, sport participation was no longer independently associated with gambling-related problems. Male sex, previous psychiatric treatment, smoking, alcohol use, and psychoactive substance use remained the strongest independent correlates.ConclusionGambling-related problems in adolescents were associated with a broader pattern of behavioral and mental health-related factors. Although sport participation was associated with gambling involvement in unadjusted analyses, this association did not remain significant after adjustment for sex and other relevant characteristics. These findings support understanding adolescent gambling within a broader risk-behavior and public health framework, with sport representing a relevant context for prevention rather than an independent risk factor.