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Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest

The Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest brings together addiction and mental health service providers, researchers and subject matter experts in the fields of gambling, technology/Internet use and video gaming to collaborate and share knowledge on emerging trends and clinical best practices.

According to the 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), there have been increases in social media and technology use among Ontario students. Further, this article (released today) states that: "Five per cent of secondary school students reported symptoms suggesting they had a serious problem with use of technology". 

This is the first time that the survey included items related to symptoms of problem technology use. Hopefully this sets a precedent for further research in this area. 

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Thanks for sharing, Matt! I just noticed the release announcement earlier this morning too. Some interesting findings include:

  • One-in-five (20%) students spend five hours or more on social media daily, which is significantly higher in 2015 (16%) and 2013 (11%).
  • 30% of secondary school students spend five hours or more per day on electronic devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, gaming consoles) recreationally.
  • 23% of students play video games daily or almost daily. 9% of students play video games for five hours or more per day. These rates have remained stable over the years.
  • One-third (31%) of students report one or more gambling activities in the
    past year; 2% of students report five or more gambling activities in the
    past year. The percentage of students reporting any gambling activity in the past year has remained stable in recent years, but is significantly lower today compared to 2003 (57%)!

Here is a link to the summary report: https://www.camh.ca/-/media/fi...sduhs-report-pdf.pdf

Thanks for everyone's comments!

Rebecca, I also found these results quite alarming. I found it interesting that only 23% of students met the recommended daily physical activity guideline, while 64% of students spend 3+ hours of recreational screen time per day. I wonder about links between screen use and lack of physical activity (as well as other impacts of course). I too worry about the long-term effects of excessive screen use.

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