Pathways of Youth Gambling Problem Severity.

Abstract

Prospective studies are needed to advance knowledge of the developmental features of gambling involvement and associated problems. Developmental pathways of youth gambling problem severity (no problem gambling, at-risk gambling, and problem gambling) are described on the basis of a 3-wave data set that spans midadolescence to young adulthood (N=305). The most prevalent group was the resistors (no problem gambling at all data points); 60% of study participants were in this group. New incidence cases (no problem gambling followed by at-risk or problem gambling) and desistors (at-risk or problem gambling followed by no problem gambling) were found among 21% and 13% of participants, respectively. Only 4% of cases were persistors, that is, at-risk or problem gambling at all 3 data waves. Findings are discussed in light of extant research on adolescent gambling that heretofore has not benefited from a developmental pathway perspective.

From Adolescent to Adult Gambling: An Analysis of Longitudinal Gambling Patterns in South Australia

“…Only 52% of people who had previously been classified as problem gamblers were still problem gamblers at the follow-up point, whereas 14% of the moderate risk group had moved into the problem gambling group (Haworth, 2005). Similar analyses undertaken by Winters et al (2005) involving 305 young people tracked since mid-adolescence showed that only 29% of problem gamblers at time one were still problem gamblers by early adulthood (aged over 17 years), although early problem gambling was still moderately associated with later problem gambling.…”

“…However, as Winters et al (2005) have pointed out, a persistent limitation in this research (Winters et al, 2002;Winters et al, 1995) was that the findings were only presented in aggregate form. In other words, although it was possible to show how the group as a whole compared over time, it did not show how stable individual behaviour had remained.…”

“…As various authors have pointed out (e.g., Winters, Stinchfield, Botzet & Slutske, 2005;Slutske, Jackson & Sher, 2003), a limitation with studies of this nature is that they do not allow one to examine the association between adolescent gambling and adult gambling over time. As a consequence, many of the conclusions drawn about the longer-term effects of adolescent gambling need to be confirmed using more refined research designs that allow more detailed longitudinal comparisons.…”

“…Some young people may have stopped gambling altogether, while a similar number may have commenced gambling, but such changes would have been masked by the overall figures. In adult populations, it is known that problem gambling is often transitory or episodic (Slutske et al, 2003;Winters et al, 2005). Those who report being problem gamblers at one point in time often report having no difficulties when interviewed at another point (Shaffer & Hall, 2002).…”

‘The notorious gambling class’: patterns of gambling among young people in Denmark

“…We also know that problematic youth gambling is often associated with parental gambling (Wynne et al, 1996), as well as starting to gamble at an early age (Burge et al, 2004). In addition to this, some longitudinal studies have been designed to explore long term behaviour, with research by Winters et al (2002Winters et al ( & 2005 finding evidence of considerable variation in types of gambling over time. Others have found similar patterns, with Vitaro et al (2004) identifying distinct longitudinal trajectories, and Slutske et al (2003: 271) suggesting that gambling problems among young people over an eleven year period were 'transitory and episodic than enduring and chronic'.…”