Externalizing and internalizing trajectories to adolescent gambling: a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT

Externalizing (e.g. conduct problems and antisocial behaviors) and internalizing (e.g. depression and anxiety) problems have been associated with gambling-related harms. However, there is a paucity of longitudinal research investigating how these problems and their patterns of change over time (i.e. trajectories) predict gambling engagement among youth. This study aimed to examine the trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems and their predictive values for later gambling. Data came from a cohort of 744 children (53.2% male, M_age 8.3 years at baseline) from Québec, Canada, with 58.3% reporting significant externalizing behaviors at baseline. Participants were followed for 7 years. Externalizing and internalizing problems were measured annually, and past year gambling was assessed at the final measurement. Mean trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems were identified through parallel process growth modeling, and logistic regression was utilized to examine whether these trajectories were predictive of gambling engagement. Thirty-one of the 659 participants remaining at the final measurement reported participation in gambling. Greater baseline externalizing problems, lower baseline internalizing problems, and a less significant decrease in externalizing problems over time predicted gambling engagement. These results provide evidence of the externalizing pathway toward youth gambling and the importance of early intervention involving youth and other relevant stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Externalizing problems
• internalizing problems
• longitudinal
• trajectories
• gambling
• youth

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the whole Longitudinal Study team for their assistance in data collection. We are most thankful to the participants of the Longitudinal Study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest to disclose, financial or non-financial.

Consent to participate

Informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from parents with the authorization to contact the child’s classroom teacher.

Consent for publication

This manuscript has not been submitted in part or in whole for publication elsewhere.

Author’s Contributions

Funding for the present study was obtained by Caroline Temcheff and Michèle Déry. Jérémie Richard, Michèle Déry, Jeffrey Derevensky and Caroline Temcheff contributed to the current study’s conception and design. Analyses were performed by Jérémie Richard, Émilie Fletcher and Annie Lemieux. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Jérémie Richard, and all authors commented on subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author and will be reasonably considered on a case-by-case basis. The data are not publicly available due to the privacy of research participants.

Ethics approval

All participants were involved in the informed consent and debriefing process in compliance with ethical standards. The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The study was approved by the ethics board of the Université de Sherbrooke.

Notes

1. The following wording was used to assess gambling participation in the French language survey: ‘Au cours des 12 derniers mois, as-tu acheté ou demandé à quelqu’un de t’acheter des billets de loterie ou gratteux ou parié (misé) de l’argent ou d’autres objets de valeur à des jeux de hasard? non/oui’.

2. The following wording was used to assess this demographic characteristic in the French language survey: ‘Sexe de l’enfant: masculin/feminin’.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grants NRF 82694 and 135928) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Grant SSHRC 37890). Jérémie Richard received doctoral fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (FRQSC): Programme de bourse sur le jeu responsable. No funding agencies had input into the content of this manuscript.

Notes on contributors

Jérémie Richard

Jérémie Richard PhD Candidate, Counselling Psychology, McGill University; Graduate researcher, International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.

Caroline Temcheff

Caroline Temcheff Associate Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University; Director, Healthy Development Laboratory; Quebec Research Scholar (Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé, Chercheur Boursier Junior 1); Associate member, International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.

Émilie Fletcher

Émilie Fletcher PhD Candidate, Counselling Psychology, McGill University; Graduate researcher, International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.

Annie Lemieux

Annie Lemieux Statistician, Université de Sherbrooke and McGill University.

Jeffrey Derevensky

Jeffrey Derevensky James McGill Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. McGill University; Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University; Director, International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours; Co-Director, Institute for Human Development and Well-Being (IHDW).

Michèle Déry

Michèle Déry Associate Professor, Département de Psychoéducation, Université de Sherbrooke; Founding member, Groupe de Recherche et d’Intervention sur les Adaptations Sociales de l’Enfance, Université de Sherbrooke.