The game of growth: how teenagers develop a craving for excitement

Most mobile games use mechanics that can form children's gambling habits and increase the risk of addiction in the future, experts from the Center for Combating Ludomania told Izvestia. According to their estimates, 89% of children who have had such an experience before the age of 12 develop risky behavior in the future. The situation is aggravated by aggressive advertising of bookmakers and online casinos by bloggers. At the same time, according to psychiatrists, strict restrictions on gadgets are unlikely to have a positive effect. How to protect children from gambling addiction is described in the Izvestia article.

How to attract children

58% of mobile games have built—in loot boxes, virtual containers containing random objects, the Center for Combating Ludomania (CBSL) told Izvestia. According to them, this mechanism activates the same dopamine systems in the child's brain as betting on money. 93% of such games are available to children over the age of 12.

In Russia, up to 18 million children aged 7-14 play video games, including mobile games, the CBSL reported. According to their data, at least 15% have already made such purchases — for example, they purchased loot boxes. According to international statistics, 60-80% of adults with gambling addiction began to get involved in gambling before the age of 18. Among children who first encountered loot boxes before the age of 12, later risky behavior is recorded in 89%.

Up to 36% of Russians aged 25 and under have already participated in some form of gambling, VTsIOM found out in cooperation with the Central Bank of Russia. So, 9% bet on sports and esports, 8% played in illegal online casinos, and 16% participated in lotteries.

"This is almost twice the global average level of teen engagement," the CBSL added.

In 2024, 1.2 thousand Russians aged 15 to 17 years old and 190 from 10 to 14 years old turned to doctors for help, the CBSL reported, citing data from the Ministry of Health.

—The digital generation shows a noticeably higher propensity for betting and online casinos than the older generations," the experts added.

On social media, people who are faced with addiction often admit that they started gambling at an early age.

"I started betting when I was a schoolboy. Not even with money, but with things in games. Further — more: betting on esports, sports, the amount is getting bigger and bigger," wrote a man suffering from ludomania.

Another young man found out about the betting in the sixth grade. "I played because my social circle was playing. Every year I became more and more addicted," he said.

What are the harms of loot boxes?

When buying a loot box, a child does not pay for a game item, but for the opportunity to receive a random reward, Svetlana Aminova, a clinical psychologist, head of the Care department, and co-author of the Remission project at the CBSL, explained to Izvestia.

— When a person does not know if there will be a win, the brain begins to actively produce dopamine not only at the moment of receiving the reward, but also during the waiting period for the result. It is the unpredictability of rewards that is considered one of the most powerful mechanisms for the formation of addictive behavior," she stressed. — For teenagers, the risk is especially high, since the brain structures responsible for self-control, predicting consequences and the ability to stop in time continue to form until about the age of 25.

According to the expert, loot boxes do not automatically make a minor addicted, but they lower the psychological barrier to gambling behavior. At first, children get this experience in games, and then they see ads for betting companies from bloggers and streamers who demonstrate large winnings. It looks like a part of modern culture, Svetlana Aminova explained.

"It is the combination of these factors that poses the greatest danger," she added.

Gambling addiction in Russia is increasingly being called a silent epidemic, experts say. Stanislav Popov, a psychiatrist and narcologist at Hadassah Medical Clinic, attributes the growth of the problem to several waves: a gradual development in recent years, a peak in 2020-2021, and an acceleration from 2023 onwards amid the active promotion of online casinos. According to the CBSL, in 2024, the situation in the country has already acquired signs of widespread spread.

At the same time, it is quite difficult to calculate ludomaniacs. It happens that an addict looks like a completely prosperous person to the last — until severe financial and social consequences manifest themselves. For example, a teenager may start stealing money from his parents, Stanislav Popov emphasized.

— Only a few people get into official statistics, because the diagnosis of "pathological gambling addiction" is made only when a person has reached a psychiatrist. The majority of the "big players" are in the "gray zone," he added.

According to the doctor, his patients have been rapidly getting younger in recent years, as "the casino is now in the child's pocket."

— If 10-15 years ago 18-20-year-olds were brought to me, now 12-14-year-olds come to consultations, and there are some cases of unhealthy gambling (pathological attraction to gambling. — Ed.) are fixed even at the age of 9-10," he noted.

Why do children become addicted

Children's craze for video games is associated with a lack of emotional contact with loved ones, according to clinical psychologist Evgeny Kholodny. He noted that in such conditions, the game becomes a surrogate of warmth for the child and an affordable way to get vivid emotions.

— When a family does not have the energy, time or skills to ensure high-quality live contact, the child inevitably begins to look for areas where he can receive these emotions, — he explained.

According to the psychologist, it is important to start addiction prevention long before children first become familiar with gadgets. It is worth thinking about the quality of communication in the family even at the stage of planning parenthood and maintaining this attention throughout the entire period of the child's growing up.

"Addiction is almost always a consequence of chronic deprivation in a relationship," the expert concluded.

Shooters or strategies by themselves do not make a person a gambler, Stanislav Popov emphasized. However, without digital hygiene, it is almost impossible to protect children from gambling practices. At the same time, restrictions should be reasonable: if you just ban something without explaining the reasons, interest will only increase, the expert noted.

According to the doctor, parents should not monitor the child's correspondence, but his expenses. From the age of six, children can be given small pocket money and taught to save, so that they understand that funds do not appear on their own.: This is the result of the parents' work, not just numbers on the screen.

— If the child did not work, he does not feel the pain of losing a thousand rubles, — the doctor emphasized.

Besides, by introducing restrictions, it is important to offer an alternative — for example, playing sports, Stanislav Popov noted. According to him, the need for excitement can be directed into real competitions, where the result depends on one's own efforts, and not on the will of chance.