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PIM University, Faculty of Phylosophy , Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr Lazar Vrkatic Faculty of Law and Business Studies , Novi Sad , Serbia
Today's youth live in a society where gambling is considered as socially acceptable behaviour and its negative consequences are often overlooked. The availability of gambling content and the frequent advertising of gambling services as a way to make money quickly and efficiently also contribute to this. Pathological gambling is a disorder of impulse control, characterised by persistent repetitive gambling actions with serious harmful psychological, financial and social consequences for the individual. The family is a very important factor in preventing the occurrence of gambling addiction. A risky family could be called the one that, by its shape, structure or internal relationships of its members and its attitude towards children, produces an emotional climate that adversely affects the children's development. It, thus, prevents healthy development in childhood and affects unhealthy forms of development in adolescence and adulthood, and with certain genetic predispositions, can influence the reinforcement of certain undesirable behaviours. The aim of this research was to examine the correlation between the percepton of family relationships and attitudes about gambling as well as the frequency of gambling among the third and fourth grade high shool students. The survey involved 462 respondents, high school students from the territory of Banja Luka. In addition to filling out the socio-demographic data questionnaire, the respondents expressed their perception of family relationships through the degree of agreement with the statements on the Family Relationship Scale created for the purposes of this survey. The attitudes towards gambling were assessed using the Gambling Attitudes Scale, which consists of 20 statements. The respondents were able to rate their degree of agreement with the stated statements on a five- point scale (from 'not at all accurate' to 'completely accurate'). Two additional particles (questions) were created to examine the types of gambling that the respondents who gamble prefer as well as the way in whch they engage in gambling ( live, online, both ways). The data processing was performed in the statistical software SPPS. The results showed the statistically significant difference in the prevalence of gambling between young men and girls. Young men are more likely to engage in gambling. The perception of family relationships dominated by bad and low-quality communication, frequent arguments, insufficient conversations, in which a young person feels like a stranger in the family, is statistically significantly related to the attitudes towards gambling as well as the prevalence of gambling among young people.
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