Gambling risks rise

How to lower the stakes

For Ambus Hunter, what started as a fun trip to Las Vegas when he was 25 soon turned into a gambling addiction. He began gambling back home in the Midwest and on business trips. He burned through thousands of dollars of savings before realizing he needed to find a way to stop.

Now fully financially recovered at 37, Hunter works as an accredited financial counselor in Baltimore, helping other people recover their finances that have been damaged by problematic gambling.

Gambling is a growing problem among young adults, according to experts, largely because sports betting and other forms of online wagering are so easily accessible.

Here’s how experts suggest parents can help teenagers and young adults avoid the risks of gambling:

1 Raise the subject Like sex and drugs, gambling should be on the list of topics to tackle with your children, says Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist, parenting expert and author of “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.”

“It’s usually better if we’re having open conversations about the risks to which they have access, and better if our kids see us as allies in keeping them safe and helping them make better decisions,” Damour says.

That means talking about the downsides of gambling, such as losing a lot of money, versus banning them from participating at all, which can backfire, Damour says.

2 Avoid gambling gift games While giving a lottery ticket as a gift to a child or organizing a fantasy football game for a group of kids might seem harmless, doing so can plant the seeds of gambling addiction, says Jeffrey Derevensky, director of the International Center for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors at McGill University.

“We are trying to delay the onset of gambling until people have the cognitive skills to set limits,” Derevensky says.

3 Recognize the warning signs and get help If your teenager or young adult seems preoccupied with gambling to the degree that it’s having a negative impact on other aspects of their life, then it might be time to seek help, says Dorothy Nuckols, who teaches personal finance for the University of Maryland Extension in Central Maryland.

Hunter encourages people to seek out support networks like the National Council on Problem Gambling’s 1-800-GAMBLER line. The organization also offers a free screening tool on its website to help people determine whether they should get help.

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Want to suggest a personal finance topic that Quick Fix can address? Email apmoney@ap.org