ALBANY - A new survey by New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services found a greater percentage of students have experienced problems gambling than adults.

Approximately 10 percent of New York students in grades 7-12, about 141,000 kids, have experienced problem gambling, compared to about 5 percent of adult New Yorkers, according to OASAS.

The survey, conducted in 2006 found that 72 percent of students had gambled at least once in the past year, and 34 percent had gambled in the past month. Another 12 percent had gambled four or more times in the past month.

Students engaged in playing cards for money most frequently - eight percent had done so on 20 or more days in the past year. But the survey found students also bought lottery tickets, gambled online and bet on sporting events, among other things.

The survey found males were more likely to gamble, both among student and adult populations. The survey was conducted by phone for adults. Students in 49 randomly selected public and private schools from across the state filled out confidential questionnaires.

Students who had parents opposed to gambling were half as likely to have a problem.

The survey also showed a correlation between chemical dependence and problem gambling. Of the students who needed chemical dependence treatment, 28 percent also had experienced problem gambling.

OASAS Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo said the agency will spend $4.8 million on gambling prevention and treatment in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

“We're really trying to use this survey as an opportunity to educate New Yorkers on what's happening in the area of gambling and true addiction,” she said.

She said it's important for parents and teachers to be aware of how much time students spend online, if they withdraw from friends and normal activities, or if they have a fixation on money.

Dr. Dennis McNeilly, president of the National Council on Problem Gambling said as people fall deeper into their addiction they will make gambling their exclusive relationship.

“They're forgoing family events, they're not available, they're a little more secretive and nobody knows what they're doing at various times of day,” he said. “That's where they would be involved with gambling and nobody would think to ask.”

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association defines the characteristics of pathological gamblers as meeting five or more out of 10 criteria.

Among those are: returning after a loss to try to win back your money, stealing money to spend on gambling and using gambling to escape from problems.

The National Council on Problem Gambling defines a problem gambler as anyone who doesn't meet the full criteria for pathological gambling, but meets one or more of those criteria and has had problems due to their gambling behavior.

McNeilly said he considers a problem gambler anyone who demonstrates three to four of the criteria.

He said in some cases if a person meets one in 10 of the criteria it may mean that he or she is gambling for some other reason.

The study is the first of its kind since OASAS took over the issue in 2005. The agency will continue researching gambling to track changing trends.