Gambling Among Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in New York City

Background and Purpose: Gambling among racial and ethnic minorities can lead to higher rates of problem or pathological gambling. A paucity of data exists on the gambling behaviors of one such group, undocumented immigrants, an understudied population. Authors present data from a 2004 study of persons born in Mexico who reside in New York City (NYC) and are undocumented. Objectives were to: (1) estimate the prevalence of gambling among undocumented Mexican immigrants; (2) examine the extent to which demographic, social, economic, and cultural variables are associated with gambling among undocumented Mexican immigrants; and (3) examine the types of gambling activities that undocumented Mexican immigrants are engaged in.

Methods: This study used data from a 2004 health study of undocumented Mexican immigrants in NYC. Participants (N=431) were recruited from venues in NYC communities with large concentrations of Mexican immigrants between October and December of 2004.Venues were selected in two phases: (1) 2003 U.S. census data identified 12 neighborhoods with the highest clusters of Mexican immigrants, and (2) systematic assessments of these neighborhoods were conducted on differing days and times to identify busy neighborhood venues receptive to conducting interviews. Outreach workers recruited participants after distributing informational flyers and engaging participants in conversations (English and Spanish) about the study. Participants ranged in age from 18-80 (mean age 32), 69.7% were male. In 20 minute interviews gambling data was collected using the South Oaks Gambling Screen to estimate the prevalence and types of gambling behaviors engaged in by participants. Background characteristics (age, gender, educational, marital, and residency status); social support; economic status (legal or “off the books” income); linguistic and social acculturation; and physical and mental health information was also collected. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and multivariate logistic regression.

Results: More than half (53.8%) of the participants reported having ever gambling and of those most (43.9%) played scratch and win tickets or the lottery. In multivariate analyses men reported gambling more than women [2.13, 95% CI = (1.03, 4.38)]. The odds of gambling were higher among those reporting sending money to family or friends in the home country [2.65, 95% CI = 1.10, 6.38)], and those who reported 1-5 days as compared to no days of poor mental health in the past 30 days [2.44, 95% CI = 1.22, 4.89)]. Conversely, those who reported entering the U.S. to live after 1996 were less likely to report gambling [0.44, 95% CI = (0.22, 0.89)] as compared to those who had lived in the U.S. longer.

Implications: The data provide much needed hard to access information on the characteristics of gambling among undocumented Mexican immigrants in NYC. The findings support the need to thoroughly investigate the extent to which undocumented immigrants are engaged in recreational, problem, or pathological gambling; and other factors associated with gambling in order to inform prevention and treatment of gambling problems in this growing U.S. population.

This research was funded by NIH grant # DA 017642 and an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award # T32 DA007267.