Nearly 70% of young Italians aged 15 to 19 play video games; one-third spend money on online gaming, and one-fifth play games that are deemed potentially addictive. One in every two adolescents gambles, and one out of every 10 engages in potentially hazardous gambling behavior. These are the findings of a study undertaken by the University of Pavia's School of Public Health and published in the prominent journal Lancet Public Health, which used data obtained from a representative sample of over 11,000 Italian adolescents. The study also discovered that, regardless of gender, age, or family income, young people who spend more money on online video games are twice as likely to gamble. "Online video games induce their users to spend money by exploiting some dynamics typical of gambling, and could exploit the same psychological vulnerabilities", explains Dr. Giansanto Mosconi, professor of public health at the University of Pavia and the article's primary author.