Project Summary

This research project will utilize data from the 4-wave Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults (MLSYA) to conduct longitudinal analyses concentrating on (a) the stability and course of problem gambling behavior among young adults, and (b) the temporal interrelations between problem gambling and co-occurring mental health and substance abuse issues among young adults. We will undertake 4 longitudinal studies (longitudinal structural equation modeling) with MLSYA data: 2 studies focusing on the stability and course of problem gambling, and 2 studies focusing on the comorbidity of problem gambling with depression, anxiety and substance use.

a) Stability and Course of Problem Gambling Behaviour. Study 1 will examine both aggregate and individual-level change in problem gambling behavior over time – including movement between risk levels – and will assess the impact of key correlates on such movement, while Study 2 will investigate whether there is a finite set of typical patterns (trajectories) of movement across time in gambling behavior, and whether these can be understood in terms of existing pathways of gambling frameworks.

b) Comorbidity with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. Although the comorbidity of substance abuse and problem gambling, and of depression and/or anxiety and problem gambling have been convincingly demonstrated in numerous studies, the evidence is almost entirely cross-sectional in nature and precludes deeper understanding of the reciprocal causal dynamics underlying these associations. Understanding the temporal sequencing and interplay of these co-occurring disorders will be essential to effective prevention and intervention efforts. The longitudinal analyses in studies 3 (temporal relationships between gambling behaviour and alcohol and drug dependence)and 4 (temporal relationships between gambling behaviour and depression and anxiety) will contribute toward these objectives.

Publications

Edgerton, J.D., Melnyk, T.S. & Roberts, L.W. (2014). Problem Gambling and the
          Youth-to-Adulthood Transition: Assessing Problem Gambling Severity
          Trajectories in a Sample of Young Adults. Journal of Gambling Studies,
          31(4), 1463-1485. doi:10.1007/s10899-014-9501-2

Edgerton, J.D., Melnyk, T.S. & Roberts, L.W. (2015). An exploratory study of
          multiple distinct gambling trajectories in emerging adults. Journal of
          Youth Studies, 18(6), 743-762. doi:10.1080/13676261.2014.992326 

Edgerton, J.D., Keough, M.T. & Roberts, L.W. (2024). Co-development of 
          Problem Gambling and Depression Symptoms in Emerging Adults: A
          Parallel-Process Latent Class Growth Model. Journal of Gambling
          Studies, 34(3), 949-968. doi:10.1007/s10899-018-9760-4

Edgerton, J.D., Keough, M.T. & Roberts, L.W. (2019). An exploratory study of
          alcohol dependence and problem gambling co-development trajectories in
          young adults. International Gambling Studies, 19(1), 1-21.  
          doi:10.1080/14459795.2024.1497070