SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF UPTAKE OF GAMBLING BEHAVIOUR AMONG UNDERGRADUATES OF NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abstract

Gambling involves voluntary participation in activities where individuals wager money orvaluables on uncertain outcomes, often driven by the thrill of anticipation and the possibilityof financial gain. In recent times, the issue of gambling among students has reachedworrisome dimensions and generated a lot of attention among parents, communities, scholars,school authorities, government, and nongovernmental organizations among others. Thisreview paper examined social determinants of gambling behavior among undergraduates inNigeria. It adopted ipso facto study design, relying only on secondary sources which werethematically content analyzed. There was rich evidence in literature that gambling behavioramong undergraduates was a product of multiple social factors multiple forces that cut acrosspeer influence, family background, socio-economic status, cultural norms, accessibility togambling facilities, and psychological factors such as stress, coping mechanisms, andpersonality traits, among others. There were also multiple levels of consequences of gamblingacross academic, social, economic, health and other frontiers that were reported in literaturefor holistic attention to the menace. To curtail gambling dispositions of undergraduates inNigeria, the need for adequate parenting and exemplary conduct by parents was emphasizedin other to ward off attractions to gambling on the part of youths. Also, the study canvassedfor intensive public enlightenment and awake up call to students, communities, universities,non-governmental organizations and the National Orientation Agency to team up to curbgambling among undergraduates.