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Why are children and young people becoming disordered gamblers?

28 February 2020

The Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry continues its evidence taking with a videoconference session considering what happens to our brains when we gamble. The Committee then takes evidence from practitioners and academics on the number of children dealing with disordered gambling, and the impact of products such as loot boxes and skins.

First panel

Tuesday 3 March in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster, by videoconference

At 3.20pm

  • Dr Luke Clark, Professor, Department of Psychology and Director, Centre for Gambling Research at the University of British Columbia

Areas of discussion

The Committee's likely questions include:

  • What happens in an individual's brain when they gamble;
  • Whether some individuals or groups of people are at greater risk of developing disordered gambling; and
  • Whether some gambling products are more addictive than others.

Second panel

Tuesday 3 March in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster

At 4.20pm

  • Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, Director, National Problem Gambling Clinic for Children;
  • Simone Vibert, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Analyst, The Children's Commissioner's Office;
  • Dr David Zendle, Lecturer in Computer Science, University of York; and
  • Lee Willows, Founder and Chief Executive, YGAM.

Areas of discussion

Topics the Committee are likely to focus on are:

  • The legal definition of gambling, and whether this should be amended to include gaming products such as loot boxes;
  • The link, if any, between loot boxes and disordered gambling;
  • The link, if any, between early-onset gambling among children and disordered gambling; and
  • The impact of gambling advertising on children and young people.

 Further information