International Journal of School and Cognitive Psychology
Open Access

Abstract

Prevalence of Sport Betting and Its Relationship with Young and Adult?s Psychosocial Behavior in Hawassa City

Wondimagegn Girma Abebe* and Deribe Workineh Adamu

Recently sport betting has become a way of life in most major cities and towns of the world including Ethiopia which resulted in a high rate of gambling among adolescents and young adults. This study was aimed to examine the prevalence of sport betting and its relationship with adolescent and young adults’ psychosocial behavior. The study subjects were selected using convenience (availability) sampling. Thus a total of 146 adolescent and young adults involved in sport betting practices from Hawassa city and nearby towns were the study participants. In doing so, descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed. Data was produced Questionnaire and key informant interview protocols were utilized as a data gathering tools. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data; whereas the qualitative data was analyzed thematically and using narrative mode. The findings show that betting market is engulfing in different city shores with having different modalities, Hulu and Harif sport bet are among favorite sport betting companies in the study area. Money, enjoyment and avoiding boredom were the three major reasons that trigger youths and young adults to be engaged in sport betting. Statistically significant, positive correlation was identified between frequency of betting and the social and psychological behavior of respondents. Based on the findings, it is recommended that planning and designing clear policy and capacity building programs, enhancing youth’s awareness about the negative repercussions of sport betting (gambling), community monitoring, multi actor participation and moral education as a means of tackling the negative effect of sport betting.

Published Date: 2023-02-02; Received Date: 2023-01-02