The potential effects of exposing children aged under 18 to gambling is an area of concern for researchers and policy-makers around the world. The UK is rare in that it allows for a number of gambling products to be legally used by people under the age of 18. The present research is a retrospective cross-sectional study of 1,052 adult UK gamblers, aged 18 - 40. Five legal youth gambling products were considered: Category D fruit machines, the National Lottery, National Lottery scratchcards, coin push machines, and crane grab machines. Recalled rates of legal youth engagement were high, ranging from 53.7% for Category D fruit machines to 93.4% for coin push machines. Across each product, merely having used a legal youth gambling product in the past was not associated with adult disordered gambling, except for scratchcards. However, higher levels of recollected legal youth engagement with each of the five products was robustly associated with adult disordered gambling. These results are relevant to recent government proposals to increase the legal age on National Lottery scratchcards to 18, and are consistent with previous results on early exposure to gambling and subsequent gambling-related harm.

Background and aims: The UK allows a number of gambling products to be legally used by people under the age of 18. The aim of this study was to explore associations between recalled legal usage of five youth gambling products and adult disordered gambling.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of 1,057 adult UK gamblers, aged 18 – 40. Recalled legal use of five youth gambling products (category D fruit machines, coin push machines, crane grab machines, the National Lottery, and National Lottery scratchcards) was correlated with adult disordered gambling symptoms as measured by the Problem Gambling Severity Index.Results: Recalled rates of legal engagement with each product ranged from 50.9% for Category D fruit machines to 96.6% for coin push machines. For category D fruit machines, the National Lottery, and National Lottery scratchcards, merely having legally engaged with these products as a child was associated with adult disordered gambling. Furthermore, higher levels of recalled legal youth usage with each of the five products was also associated with adult disordered gambling.Discussion and conclusions: These results relate to recent government proposals to increase the National Lottery scratchcard legal age to 18, and add to a wider literature on youth gambling and subsequent gambling-related harm.