The findings of a survey, organised by the Bosco Youth Service Network in conjunction with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s (PolyU) Department of Applied Social Sciences and St John’s Cathedral Counselling Service, show the pervasiveness of addictive behaviour among junior secondary school and university students.

According to the findings released yesterday, 56.6 percent of 1,148 Form 1 to 3 students said that they have engaged in addictive behaviour involving new forms of gambling such as e-sports gambling and using amusement gaming machines with gambling elements, as well as gambling-related activities such as the purchase of loot boxes or mystery boxes and usage of claw crane machines, while 59.3 percent of the 177 university respondents reported their involvement in addictive behaviour in the past, with 70 percent saying that they had drunk alcohol.

Among the secondary school students who said they have participated in addictive behaviour, according to the findings, 2.6 percent to 30 percent reported their participation in a range of gambling-related activities in the past 30 days.

In addition, the findings point out that university students’ participation in new forms of gambling and gambling-related activities was also common, with 20 percent of the respondents saying that they had participated in online game top-ups, purchased loot boxes or mystery boxes, or used claw crane machines in the past 30 days.

While involvement in addictive behaviour was common among secondary school students, it was not typical for them to seek help to address their addictive behaviour, with only a very small minority, a mere 3.4 percent, having sought support, the findings noted.

The findings of the survey entitled “Addictive Behaviours and Psychosocial Correlates among Secondary and University Students in Macau 2022” were released yesterday by the head of the Bosco Youth Service Network’s FREEland centre, Dickson Tam, PolyU Department of Applied Social Sciences Assistant Professor Camila Lo Kin Ming and St John’s Cathedral Counselling Service Director Elda Chan Mei Lo during a press conference at the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Healthy Life Education Centre in Areia Preta district.

The survey, according to the organisers, which was conducted between September and November last year, involved two studies, one targeting junior secondary school students and the other university students, with the adoption of a cross-sectional design. With the aim of providing updated estimates about addictive behaviour among secondary and university students in Macau, examining psychosocial characteristics associated with addictive behaviour and comparing secondary school students’ addictive behaviour and psychosocial characteristics between 2017 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 during the pandemic, the organisers collected questionnaires from 1,148 Form 1 to 3 students and 177 university students in Macau, in which the former group was used for a comparison with a similar secondary school survey conducted in 2017 by the Bosco Youth Service Network on secondary school students’ addictive behaviour and psychosocial characteristics.

The findings of the survey show that secondary school students spent, on average, 3.66 and 6.10 hours online during school days and holidays respectively, of whom 21.8 percent reported being cyber-bullied, 17.3 percent visited pornographic websites, while between 7.0 percent and 20.6 percent sent or received sexually explicit messages, indicating that “spending more time online increases not only the risk for excessive gaming and gaming disorders, but also the likelihood of engagement in risky online activities”.

The number of hours spent on the internet was “significantly” associated with different addictive behaviour, including alcohol use, tobacco and e-cigarette smoking, drug use, as well as gaming disorders and excessive gaming, the findings noted, which stressed that suicidal thoughts and psychological distress such as depression, anxiety and stress served as the common risk factors for a myriad of addictive behaviours among secondary school students.

The comparison between the findings of secondary school surveys conducted in 2017 and 2022 respectively shows that the number of secondary school students who said they had consumed alcohol, smoked cigarettes, vaped and gambled in the past 30 days was significantly lower last year, but the number of secondary school students who said they had used drugs increased “significantly” from 0.3 percent in 2017 to 1.3 percent last year, pointing out that the average age in 2022 at which they first engaged in such behaviour other than smoking was “younger” than in 2017.

On average, university students last year spent 6.04 hours on school days and 8.07 hours on holidays on internet activities outside of their studies, according to the findings, which show that of the respondents, 10.2 percent said they had been cyberbullied, 41.8 percent said they had watched pornographic websites and 9.0 percent and 14.7 percent had sent and received sexually explicit messages respectively, indicating that there was a “significant” connection between increased peer support and alcohol use and tobacco and e-cigarette smoking, in addition to their adverse childhood experiences which caused an elevated risk for tobacco and e-cigarette smoking, gambling, and excessive online gaming.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the press conference, Tam urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the education sector to continuously pay close attention to the prevalence of students’ participation in the new forms of gambling activities and provide public education about the potential consequences, while also emphasising the need for more efforts by the education sector and NGOs to prevent students’ addictive behaviour to improve young people’s mental health.

Considering that, in general, adolescents with addictive behaviour do not take the initiative to seek help, Tam urged schools and social service organisations to reach out to the more vulnerable student population and offer early intervention in order to reduce their risk of developing addictive behaviour. 

The head of the Bosco Youth Service Network’s FREEland centre, Dickson Tam (left), Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s (PolyU) Department of Applied Social Sciences Assistant Professor Camila Lo Kin Ming and St John’s Cathedral Counselling Service Director Elda Chan Mei Lo (centre) release their joint survey entitled “Addictive Behaviours and Psychosocial Correlates among Secondary and University Students in Macau 2022” during yesterday’s press conference at the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Healthy Life Education Centre in Areia Preta district. – Photo: Yuki Lei