{
  "id": 192291,
  "title": "Some parents helping their underage kids gamble, study finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/some-parents-helping-their-underage-kids-gamble-study-finds",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-05T21:21:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-06/parents-contributing-to-teenage-gambling-rates-study-finds/107000260"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A study has revealed that some parents are encouraging their underage children to gamble, contributing to the increasing rates of teenage gambling in Australia. Researchers from CQUniversity's Appleton Institute and Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory conducted the study, finding that parental behavior played a significant role in the normalization of gambling among teens. The research, published in two papers in 2025 and 2026, showed examples of parents facilitating gambling activities at home, such as discussing their own wins, asking teenagers to pick lottery numbers, and even allowing them to use online accounts for gambling. Dr. Cassy Dittman, one of the researchers, noted that the more parents engaged in facilitative behaviors, the more likely teenagers were to gamble and develop risky or problem levels of gambling. This effect was the strongest predictor of adolescent gambling problems. Australia Institute research manager Morgan Harrington attributed the trend to the saturation of gambling advertising and the prevalence of online gambling, emphasizing the need for stronger regulations to protect vulnerable individuals. Despite parents' awareness of their children's gambling, concerns about other issues like bullying and substance abuse were more prominent. The government has acknowledged the problem and introduced measures to protect children and young people, but Dr. Harrington believes stronger regulations could help reduce Australia's significant gambling losses.",
  "summary": "Parental behaviour could be a significant contributing factor in teenage gambling rates, a study has found.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}