Engl. transl.: The involvement of students with special educational needs in traditional and online gambling and other risk behaviours

The article focuses on the engagement of young people with special educational needs (SEN) in traditional and online gambling as well as other risk behaviours. Gambling can have serious destructive individual, social, and public health consequences, especially when we consider the involvement of young people who come from a vulnerable group (e.g. students with SEN). The article presents an overview of a research on the reported gambling experience (behaviour) and gambling consequences that was conducted with a new diagnostic tool (Lodz Adolescent Gambling Symptoms Questionnaire – LAGSQ). The data confirms that the involvement in gambling within the SEN sample ranged from 8% to 54% depending on the type of gambling behavior. The comparison of the results between the SEN sample and the students without SEN reveals statistically significant differences concerning the reported gambling experience and its consequences. Moreover, the students with SEN are more likely to report a higher level of bullying and cyberbullying victimization experience.

"(...) the results show that at least once in the year preceding the survey, it was carried out by 8% up to 54% of students with special educational needs (those who answered positive to the the question about having a disability certificate or other similar document, eg dyslexia). As far as the risk of gambling pathological risk is low (in the entire sample there were 1.3% of people meeting the criteria addiction DSM-V, the mild severity of which concerned 0.8% of the sample), the prevalence of the use of psychoactive substances and involvement in bullying, both traditional and carried out with the use of ICT should be considered significant. The comparison with students without special educational needs showed significant differences both in terms of the frequency of gambling behavior and the scale of the severity of the resulting problems. (...) there is also a tendency towards a higher frequency of behaviors carried out with the use of the Internet by such youth. In terms of the use of psychoactive substances, in the vast majority of cases, there were no significant intergroup differences. It has been confirmed that there is a greater risk of becoming a victim violence (bullying and cyberbullying) in the case of pupils with SEN." (Plichta, P., Pyżalski, J. (2016). Narażenie uczniów ze specjalnymi potrzebami edukacyjnymi na hazard tradycyjny i internetowy oraz inne zachowania ryzykowne. "Niepełnosprawność, Dyskursy pedagogiki specjalnej, nr 24(2016), p. 238-239.) (translated by the coder)