Links Between Gambling and Academic Performance Among Undergraduate College Students: A Scoping Review.

Abstract

Gambling among young people is a growing public health concern, particularly as gambling becomes more accessible through changing policy and increased online gambling platforms. College students are a high-risk population for problem gambling, yet limited research has synthesized evidence on its academic implications. This scoping review examined the association between gambling behavior and academic performance among undergraduate college students in order to summarize findings, identify methodological patterns, and highlight gaps to inform future research. Eligible studies included peer-reviewed, empirical research that quantitatively assessed the relationship between gambling and academic performance (i.e., grades) among undergraduate college students worldwide. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The majority of studies found a negative association between gambling and academic performance in college, with both general gambling behavior and pathological gambling consistently linked to lower grade point average (GPA). There is a vital need for updated research in the context of a rapidly changing gambling landscape, as the majority of studies in this review were over ten years old. To address methodological limitations of existing research on the relationship between gambling and academic performance among college students, future research should prioritize longitudinal data collection, standardized measures of gambling behavior, and the use of rigorous statistical methods that account for potential covariates. Gambling may impair academic performance in college students, and additional research is needed to better understand this relationship and inform campus-based prevention, harm reduction, and treatment strategies to bolster student success.