The Hidden Dangers of Sports Betting and Predictive Markets: What Every Parent, Teen, and College Student Needs to Know

Quick Insights

• Gambling is more accessible than ever. Sports betting and predictive markets like Polymarket and Kalshi are now legal, promoted by celebrities, and available on your phone.
• Adolescents are especially vulnerable. The adolescent brain is wired for reward-seeking and impulsivity, making young people two to four times more likely to develop gambling problems than adults (Chambers & Potenza, 2003).
• Near-misses are designed to hook you. The "almost won" feeling activates the same brain circuitry as winning, and the more severe your gambling, the stronger the effect (Chase & Clark, 2010).
• Gambling harms academic performance. College students who gamble have lower GPAs, and problem gamblers are significantly more likely to experience academic problems (Allen et al., 2025).
• Parents are largely unaware. Only 2% of parents think their teen has used an online betting platform, and only 25% have talked with their teen about online betting (Mott Poll, 2024).
• Gambling is linked to mental health crises. Problem gamblers are 4.2 times more likely to report mental distress and 17.8 times more likely to report a suicide attempt (Cook et al., 2015).
• Help is available. You are not alone, and you can find freedom. Call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or 1-800-522-4700 for the National Problem Gambling Helpline.

How We Got Here

I first became concerned about betting apps back in 2020. I was volunteering with high school teenagers, and we were chatting about the fall NFL schedule when I saw one of these teenagers pull out his phone and hop on a popular sports betting app.

I asked him what he was doing. He shared that he was betting on the upcoming Cowboys game. When I asked how much he had already bet on the app, he mentioned around $300, with the caveat that the app provided the first $100 free. When I asked how many of his friends used the app, he mentioned that most of the people at his high school were using it.

It was at that point that I became concerned with the accessibility and utilization of betting apps and the potential for the development of gambling addiction in our young adults. Little did I know this was largely the beginning, especially since the introduction of predictive markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi.

It was just this last year that Timothy Chalamet was spotted promoting the betting app Kalshi, and Drake is infamously known for utilizing sports betting apps to gamble. Sports betting and betting on everyday things was culturally taboo, a back room event that was not welcomed in society. However, things have changed, and the promotion of these apps by young and popular social figures is frightening.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which led 38 states and Washington D.C. to legalize retail sports betting and/or mobile-online sports betting. Approximately $6.6 billion was legally wagered on sports in the U.S. in 2018, and that number grew to $148 billion in 2024 (Allen et al., 2025).

Why Teens and Young Adults Are Especially Vulnerable

The prevalence of problem and pathological gambling in adolescence and young adulthood has been found to be two to fourfold higher than in adulthood (Chambers & Potenza, 2003). Between 4% and 8% of adolescent gamblers are experiencing significant gambling-related problems (Floros, 2018).

Why are young people so vulnerable?

The Adolescent Brain

Adolescents are apparently prone to seeking out gambling experiences due to differences in neurobiology when compared to adults. Adolescents evidence less recruitment of the right ventral striatum and right-extended amygdala while anticipating responding for gains compared with young adults (Floros, 2018). The subcortical neural systems in adolescents are the first ones to mature and are disproportionately activated relative to later maturing top-down control systems, leading to an adolescent biasing toward immediate gains rather than long-term ones (Floros, 2018).

Compared to adults, the adolescent amygdala is activated more easily from reward cues and is less sensitive to potential harm (Floros, 2018). This neurobiological immaturity makes adolescents particularly susceptible to the allure of gambling, where immediate rewards and the thrill of uncertainty override long-term consequences.

What This Means in Practice

When a young person is presented with a betting app that offers free money, flashy graphics, and the promise of quick wins, their brain is biologically primed to respond. The developmental mismatch between reward-seeking systems and impulse control systems creates a perfect storm for risky behavior.

The Near-Miss Effect: The "Almost Won" Trap

One of the most dangerous features of gambling is the near-miss effect. A near-miss occurs when elements of a game suggest to gamblers that they have almost achieved a winning outcome (Quaglieri et al., 2024).

How Near-Misses Affect the Brain

Chase and Clark (2010) found that near-miss outcomes recruit reward-related brain circuitry in the ventral striatum, the same circuitry that responds to monetary wins. In other words, your brain reacts to "almost winning" in the same way it reacts to actually winning. This is not an accident. It is by design.

Even more concerning, the study found that gambling severity predicts a greater response in the dopaminergic midbrain to near-miss outcomes. This means that the more severe your gambling problems become, the stronger your brain's response to near-misses becomes (Chase & Clark, 2010). Near-miss outcomes may enhance dopamine transmission in disordered gambling, which extends neurobiological similarities between pathological gambling and drug addiction (Chase & Clark, 2010).

What This Looks Like in Real Life

Quaglieri et al. (2024) found that problem gamblers bet more after near-misses than after losses. This reflects a "chasing losses" behavior, continuing to gamble even after losses to make up for previous losses. They also found that participants showed lower decision times following near-misses and losses compared to wins, suggesting a higher motivational intensity to "payback" losses quickly (Quaglieri et al., 2024).

This is why gambling is so dangerous. Unlike substance addiction, where people know if you keep using substances you will die, gambling is the only addiction that promises a hopeful outcome. Someone who is a million dollars in debt could theoretically pull a winning hand and make it all back. This is called chasing losses, and it can be devastating to a person and community.

The Gamification of Gambling: Technology as a Weapon

The gambling industry has invested heavily in making their platforms mimic addictive gaming elements to draw people back to the app and make it fun. This is extremely dangerous and predatory.

Simulated Gambling as a Gateway

Floros (2018) documented that approximately 20% of adults and adolescents who play simulated gambling games move to online commercial gambling. A study of 1,220 adolescents found that 28.8% of participants who engaged in simulated gambling gambled for the first time with real money within one year (Floros, 2018).

The link between simulated gambling and commercial gambling is clear. Simulated gambling environments constantly reward players with in-game bonuses and rank levels while shielding them from any negative consequences since the loss does not incur any significant disadvantage. Inflated chances of win and payout foster a false belief in the player's gambling efficacy while deflating the perceived sense of risk (Floros, 2018).

Micro-Transactions and Loot Boxes

Qualitative research on player attitudes in online games of chance reveals parallels to instances of gambling with real money. A micro-transaction is an in-game purchase of relatively small monetary value that seemingly offers disproportionately larger value within the game itself. Social casino gamers who engaged in micro-transactions reported significantly higher levels of impulsivity, reward sensitivity, and problem gambling severity (Floros, 2018).

In terms of motivation to make micro-transactions, the desire to extend play was endorsed most frequently, followed by a desire to access additional features, chasing lost credits, and a desire to speed up play (Floros, 2018). The intention is to keep you engaged and spending, even when you do not realize you are gambling.

The Blurring of Gaming and Gambling

In a study of 1,229 adolescents and young adults, McBride and Derevensky found that both social and problem gamblers had higher rates of video game playing than non-gamblers, and addicted gamers had higher rates of gambling than social and non-gamers (Floros, 2018). The intermingling of gambling-like rewards into online games otherwise unrelated to gambling may lead to an unseen danger of extending one behavior to another.

The Impact on Academic Performance

Gambling is not just a financial risk. It is an academic one as well.

A scoping review by Allen et al. (2025) identified 13 studies examining the association between gambling and academic performance among undergraduate college students. The majority of studies found a negative association between gambling and academic performance, with both general gambling behavior and pathological gambling consistently linked to lower GPA.

Specifically, Kitole et al. (2025) found that sports betting had a significant negative association with GPA (Allen et al., 2025). Problem gamblers had significantly worse academic performance when compared to non-gamblers and/or non-problem gamblers (Allen et al., 2025). Petry and Weinstock (2007) found that students who gambled online had significantly lower GPAs than students who did not gamble online (Allen et al., 2025).

Why Does This Happen?

Several mechanisms may explain the observed associations between gambling and decreased academic performance. Students who engage in gambling may spend less time engaging in behaviors conducive to academic success, such as attending classes, studying, and completing assignments. Prior research has supported this theory, finding that gambling is associated with decreased study time, and problem gambling is associated with increased academic problems such as failing to submit assignments and missing classes (Allen et al., 2025).

The Hidden Toll on Mental Health

The mental health consequences of gambling are severe and often overlooked.

A study by Cook et al. (2015) found that the odds of problem gamblers reporting mental distress was 4.2 times higher than the rest of the sample. The odds of problem gamblers reporting a suicide attempt were 17.8 times greater than the rest of the sample. Delinquent behaviors were also more common among problem gamblers, including theft, selling marijuana, gang fights, and carrying a handgun.

Students who report problem gambling behaviors show increased substance abuse, mental health, and delinquency problems that are similar to those seen among adult problem gamblers (Cook et al., 2015).

What This Looks Like Clinically

From a relational psychodynamic perspective, gambling shares very similar impacts on the brain as substance use addiction. The treatment approach stays the same: we address the underlying attachment wounds by providing a safe and secure base for the individual to connect with and feel safe. We address the underlying needs that drive you toward your addictions and increase the patient's ability and capacity to sit with their uncomfortable feelings that initially led them to gambling.

Like all addiction, there is an underlying need seeking to be met through gambling. This may be the need to feel valuable, seen by their peers as wealthy or wise, or a fear of abandonment or insecurity. Gambling is within the cluster of addiction.

What Parents Need to Know (And What They Are Missing)

The Awareness Gap

A national poll by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital (2024) revealed alarming gaps in parental awareness:

• Only 2% of parents think their teen has used an online betting platform, which was higher among parents of teen boys than girls (3% vs 0.4%) (Mott Poll, 2024).
• 16% of parents think they would probably not know if their teen was betting online (Mott Poll, 2024).
• Only 25% of parents have talked with their teen about some aspect of online betting (Mott Poll, 2024).
• 55% of parents do not know their state's legal age for online betting (Mott Poll, 2024).
• 63% of parents have seen or heard ads for online sports or casino betting in the past year (Mott Poll, 2024).

Parents may be underestimating their teen's involvement. Online betting can be difficult to detect because a teen can easily log in on their smartphone or other personal device, delete the search history, hide the app, or use it discretely. Two-thirds of parents reported their teen has a bank account or debit/credit card in their own name that could be used to register for online betting platforms. It is likely that many teens could participate in online betting without their parents' knowledge (Mott Poll, 2024).

What Parents Are Concerned About

The Mott Poll (2024) found that parents identified the following risks of online betting for teens:

• Getting into debt (83%)
• Developing a gambling addiction (77%)
• Ruining their credit score (51%)
• Online betting leading to drug or alcohol abuse (27%)

How to Talk to Your Teen

If you are a parent who just found out your teen is on these apps, I want you to take a breath. Just because they are utilizing the app does not make them a full-blown addict.

Technically speaking, according to the DSM-5-TR, in order to diagnose someone with gambling disorder, they would need to meet the following criteria: persistent and problematic gambling causing significant distress, with four or more of the following symptoms within 12 months:

• Need to gamble with increasing money for excitement
• Restlessness or irritability when cutting down or stopping
• Repeated unsuccessful attempts to control gambling
• Preoccupation with gambling
• Gambling to relieve distress (helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)
• Chasing losses
• Lying to conceal involvement
• Jeopardizing or losing relationships, jobs, or opportunities
• Relying on others for money ("bailouts")

If they do not meet that criteria, they are not gambling addicts. That being said, it is important to address these concerns with your teens, college students, and young adults so they can be aware of the harms. Cutting them off may help in the short term, but in the long term they will need to be able to learn that discipline on their own. It is better to work with them than against them by coming alongside them and helping them get the help they need.

A Clinical Perspective: Relational Psychodynamic Approach

From my work with young people and families, I have come to see gambling not as a moral failing but as a symptom of something deeper. The underlying attachment wounds, the need to feel valued, the fear of abandonment, the lack of a secure base, drive the behavior.

The treatment approach is the same as for any addiction: we provide a safe and secure base for the individual to connect with and feel safe. We address the underlying needs that drive you toward your addictions and increase the patient's ability and capacity to sit with their uncomfortable feelings that initially led them to gambling.

This is not about shame. It is about understanding. It is about recognizing that the behavior is trying to meet a need, just in a way that ultimately harms.

A Message to Young People Who Are Struggling

If you are the person reading this who is struggling with these predictive and betting apps, you are not alone. You can be free of its pull. However, it will take time and energy to rewire your brain, and thus the sooner you seek help, the better it will be in the long run. You are not too far gone, and you can find freedom.

Resources

If you are having negative thoughts of self-harm, please do not wait. Call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to speak to a crisis counselor.

For gambling-specific support, call the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.

References

Allen, H. K., Knight, T., Hall, B., & Dennis, M. (2025). Links between gambling and academic performance among undergraduate college students: A scoping review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 41, 1517–1531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-025-10440-9

Chambers, R. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2003). Neurodevelopment, impulsivity, and adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19(1), 53–84. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021275130071

Chase, H. W., & Clark, L. (2010). Gambling severity predicts midbrain response to near-miss outcomes. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(18), 6180–6187. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20445043/

Cook, S., Turner, N. E., Ballon, B., Paglia-Boak, A., Murray, R., Adlaf, E. M., Ilie, G., den Dunnen, W., & Mann, R. E. (2015). Problem gambling among Ontario students: Associations with substance abuse, mental health problems, suicide attempts, and delinquent behaviours. Journal of Gambling Studies, 31(4), 1121–1134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9483-0

Floros, G. D. (2018). Gambling disorder in adolescents: Prevalence, new developments, and treatment challenges. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 9, 43–51. https://doi.org/10.2147/AHMT.S135423

Mott Poll. (2024). Parent awareness of online betting among teens. C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, 44(5). https://mottpoll.org/reports/parent-awareness-online-betting-among-teens

Petry, N.M. and Weinstock, J. (2007), Internet Gambling Is Common in College Students and Associated with Poor Mental Health. The American Journal on Addictions, 16: 325-330. https://doi.org/10.1080/10550490701525673

Quaglieri, A., Pizzo, A., Cricenti, C., Tagliaferri, G., Frisari, F. V., Burrai, J., Mari, E., Lausi, G., Giannini, A. M., & Zivi, P. (2024). Gambling and virtual reality: Unraveling the illusion of near-misses effect. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1322631. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1322631

Sundali, J. A., Safford, A. H., & Croson, R. (2012). The impact of near-miss events on betting behavior: An examination of casino rapid roulette play. Judgment and Decision Making, 7(6), 768–778. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500003326