National surveys have consistently found that, overall, Pacific adults are less likely to participate in gambling activities than European adults (74.5% of Pacific people gambled in
2012 vs. 81.4% of Europeans) [2], but that those who do gamble have a higher risk of developing levels of harmful gambling (8.0% of Pacific people are moderate-risk/problem gamblers vs. 1.7% of Europeans) 3 and have a higher gambling expenditure (mean of $102.31 per month vs.
$65.91 for Europeans) [2]. The reasons for the increased risk are not well understood and the gambling behaviours of Pacific youth, which could lead to adult gambling behaviours, are even less researched.

Surveys were conducted with the 17 year old youth in the longitudinal Pacific Islands Families study.

A birth cohort of 1,398 Pacific infants was recruited into the Pacific Islands Families (PIF) study from a South Auckland hospital in 2000. In 2017, the cohort children were 17 years old and an extensive set of gambling-relate questions was included in their survey. Six hundred and thirty-two youth were surveyed. (From the report). Record #8937).