THE INFLUENCE OF SPORTS BETTING ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING OF YOUTHS IN ABAKALIKI METROPOLIS: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Abstract

         The debilitating impacts of gambling behaviour such as sports betting have continued to cause chaos in the psychological wellbeing of young adults across the world. Unsuccessful gamble outcomes have left emotional scars in the psychological functioning of youths in Abakaliki metropolis. These problems are examined in this study through the narrative inquiry qualitative approach. Twenty (20) youth bettors were sampled through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Narrative interviews were conducted with the respondents and data gathered were subjected to narrative analysis. The study was anchored on the cognitive theory of gambling. Findings indicate that the wellbeing of the participants was adversely impacted as their incomes seem to be lost to gambling which had psychological implications in their lives. Findings further revealed that participants experienced unpleasant emotions, anger, sadness and feelings of irritability. Other psychological problems experienced by participants include; alcohol and other substance abuse, sleeplessness, betting obsession, nervousness and anxiety. It is concluded that gambling outcomes has negatively affected the emotional wellbeing of the participants. We recommend that government should enforce tighter regulations on gambling while gambling education should be embraced in schools.    Keywords: Sports, Betting, Youths, Psychological, wellbeing