14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new scientific study conducted by experts at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, young adults who were strongly supervised by their parents during childhood and preteen years are less likely to gamble when they are young adults.
The most critical period was found to be between 11 and 14 years, researchers say. Children whose parents supervised them properly during this time were less likely to have gambling problems by the ages of 16 to 22 than peers whose parents did not pay such close attention to them.
The new study, entitled “Parental Monitoring Trajectories and Gambling,” was conducted on a sample of 514 young adults in Baltimore, Maryland, PsychCentral reports. An important conclusion is that parents should remain vigilant and engaged with their children even as they allow the little ones more freedom during their teen years.
“Teenagers seek autonomy, but they may not yet have the maturity to keep them from engaging in risky behaviors,” explains Mailman associate professor of epidemiology and study co-author, Silvia Martins.