Objective: To examine the association between adolescent
at-risk or problem gambling (ARPG) and medicine used to
treat nervousness in a large-scale nationally representative
sample of Italian adolescents. Study design: Data from the
2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey
was used for cross-sectional analyses (a sample of 20,791
15-year-old students). Self-administered questionnaires
were completed by a representative sample of high-school
students. Respondents’ ARPG, use of medicine for nervousness
and potential confounding factors were assessed. Multilevel
logistic regression analyses were used to test the association
between medicine use to treat nervousness and
ARPG. Results: The overall prevalence of adolescents reporting
medicine use for nervousness in the last month was
6.3%. The odds of ARPG were 3 times higher among adolescents
who used medicine for nervousness compared to that among adolescents who did not take such medicine (OR
2.96, 95% CI 2.07–4.25). Importantly, the association between
medicine used to treat nervousness and ARPG did not
vary significantly when viewed in light of psychological
symptoms. Conclusions: Medicine use to treat nervousness
is associated with increased risk of gambling-related harm.