Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Trajectory Classes of Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms to Adolescent Gambling Participation: An Exploratory Study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Gambling Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Engagement in underage gambling remains a public health concern. Risk factors for the development of gambling behaviours in adolescence include the presence of externalizing and/or internalizing problems. This study aims to better understand the role of co-occurrence between externalizing and internalizing symptoms from childhood to adolescence in adolescent gambling. Participants were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study of children with and without early conduct problems. Externalizing and internalizing problems were measured annually using teacher and parent reports. Gambling behaviours were measured using self-report when participants were approximately 15 years old. Latent class growth trajectory analyses identified five mental health trajectory classes: (1) a co-occurring trajectory characterized by stable clinical levels of both externalizing and internalizing problems, (2) an externalizing trajectory characterized by stable high clinical levels of externalizing problems, (3) an internalizing trajectory characterized by stable at-risk levels of internalizing problems, (4) an at-risk externalizing trajectory characterized by decreasing levels of externalizing problems, and (5) a non-clinical trajectory. Invariance analyses suggested that this model remained valid in both boys and girls. Logistic regression analyses suggested that youth who belonged in the externalizing trajectory reported a greater likelihood of past-year gambling behaviours when compared to youth who belong in the comorbid trajectory. No other mental health trajectory was significantly associated with adolescent gambling. Stable high externalizing behaviours in development appear to increase one’s risk of gambling behaviours in adolescence. Efforts to target these throughout development could help decrease one’s future risk of engaging in these behaviours.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are not publicly available due the fact that they constitute an excerpt of research in progress.

References

  • Achenbach, T. M., Dumenci, L., & Rescorla, L. A. (2003). Dsm-oriented and empirically based approaches to constructing scales from the same item pools. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(3), 328–340. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424JCCP3203_02

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allami, Y., Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., Carbonneau, R., Lacourse, É., & Tremblay, R. E. (2017). A longitudinal empirical investigation of the pathways model of problem gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 33(4), 1153–1167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9682-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allami, Y., Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., Carbonneau, R., & Tremblay, R. E. (2018). Identifying at-risk profiles and protective factors for problem gambling: A longitudinal study across adolescence and early adulthood. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 32(3), 373. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000356

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Askari, M. S., Rutherford, C. G., Mauro, P. M., Kreski, N. T., & Keyes, K. M. (2021). Structure and trends of externalizing and internalizing psychiatric symptoms and gender differences among adolescents in the us from 1991 to 2018. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57, 737–748.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Blaszczynski, A., & Nower, L. (2002). A pathways model of problem and pathological gambling. Addiction, 97(5), 487–499. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00015.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, L. M., & Shaw, D. S. (2013). Revisiting data related to the age of onset and developmental course of female conduct problems. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 16(1), 35–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-012-0125-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brezing, C., Derevensky, J. L., & Potenza, M. N. (2010). Non–substance-addictive behaviors in youth: Pathological gambling and problematic internet use. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19(3), 625–641.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cerdá, M., Sagdeo, A., & Galea, S. (2008). Comorbid forms of psychopathology: Key patterns and future research directions. Epidemiologic Reviews, 30(1), 155–177. https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxn003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colder, C. R., Chassin, L., Lee, M. R., & Villalta, I. K. (2010). Developmental perspectives: Affect and adolescent substance use. In J. Kassel (Ed.), Substance abuse and emotion (pp. 109–135). American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Colder, C. R., Scalco, M., Trucco, E. M., Read, J. P., Lengua, L. J., Wieczorek, W. F., & Hawk, L. W. (2013). Prospective associations of internalizing and externalizing problems and their co-occurrence with early adolescent substance use. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41(4), 667–677.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J., Sklar, A., Gupta, R., & Messerlian, C. (2010). An empirical study examining the impact of gambling advertisements on adolescent gambling attitudes and behaviors. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8(1), 21–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, N. A., Merkouris, S. S., Greenwood, C. J., Oldenhof, E., Toumbourou, J. W., & Youssef, G. J. (2017). Early risk and protective factors for problem gambling: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 51, 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.10.008

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dussault, F., Brendgen, M., Vitaro, F., Wanner, B., & Tremblay, R. E. (2011). Longitudinal links between impulsivity, gambling problems and depressive symptoms: A transactional model from adolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(2), 130–138.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eme, R. F. (1992). Selective females affliction in the developmental disorders of childhood: A literature review. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21(4), 354–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanti, K. A., & Henrich, C. C. (2010). Trajectories of pure and co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems from age 2 to age 12: Findings from the national institute of child health and human development study of early child care. Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1159. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020659

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D. M., John Horwood, L., & Ridder, E. M. (2005). Show me the child at seven: The consequences of conduct problems in childhood for psychosocial functioning in adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(8), 837–849.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, S. (1992). Measuring pathological gambling in children: The case of fruit machines in the UK. Journal of Gambling Studies, 8(3), 263–285.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, R., Nower, L., Derevensky, J. L., Blaszczynski, A., Faregh, N., & Temcheff, C. (2013). Problem gambling in adolescents: An examination of the pathways model. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29(3), 575–588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-012-9322-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hussong, A. M., Ennett, S. T., Cox, M. J., & Haroon, M. (2017). A systematic review of the unique prospective association of negative affect symptoms and adolescent substance use controlling for externalizing symptoms. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31(2), 137.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hussong, A. M., Jones, D. J., Stein, G. L., Baucom, D. H., & Boeding, S. (2011). An internalizing pathway to alcohol use and disorder. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25(3), 390.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • IBM Corp. (2017). Spss version 25.0. IBM Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Infurna, F. J., & Grimm, K. J. (2018). The use of growth mixture modeling for studying resilience to major life stressors in adulthood and old age: Lessons for class size and identification and model selection. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(1), 148–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, D. F. (2004). Youth gambling in North America. In J.L Derevensky & R. Gupta (Eds.), Gambling problems in youth: Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. 1–24). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, A., Grant, J. E., Kim, S. W., Odlaug, B. L., & Götestam, K. G. (2009). Risk factors for problematic gambling: A critical literature review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25(1), 67–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-008-9088-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Hwang, I., LaBrie, R., Petukhova, M., Sampson, N. A., Winters, K. C., & Shaffer, H. J. (2008). Dsm-iv pathological gambling in the national comorbidity survey replication. Psychological Medicine, 38(9), 1351–1360. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291708002900

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Khantzian, E. J. (1997). The self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders: A reconsideration and recent applications. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 4(5), 231–244.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, D., Delfabbro, P., & Griffiths, M. (2010). The convergence of gambling and digital media: Implications for gambling in young people. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26(2), 175–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9153-9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, D. L., Russell, A., & Hing, N. (2020). Adolescent land-based and internet gambling: Australian and international prevalence rates and measurement issues. Current Addiction Reports, 7(2), 137–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., & Seeley, J. R. (1995). Adolescent psychopathology: Iii. The clinical consequences of comorbidity. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(4), 510–519. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199504000-00018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (2019). Statistical analysis with missing data (Vol. 793). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo, Y., Mendell, N. R., & Rubin, D. B. (2001). Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika, 88(3), 767–778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., & Raskin White, H. (1999). Developmental aspects of delinquency and internalizing problems and their association with persistent juvenile substance use between ages 7 and 18. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28(3), 322–332.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maslowsky, J., Schulenberg, J. E., & Zucker, R. A. (2014). Influence of conduct problems and depressive symptomatology on adolescent substance use: Developmentally proximal versus distal effects. Developmental Psychology, 50(4), 1179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, W. A., Hitchings, J. E., & Spoth, R. L. (2008). The interaction of conduct problems and depressed mood in relation to adolescent substance involvement and peer substance use. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 96(3), 233–248.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh, M. L. (2013). The chi-square test of independence. Biochemia Medica, 23(2), 143–149. https://doi.org/10.11613/bm.2013.018

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mojtabai, R., Olfson, M., & Han, B. (2016). National trends in the prevalence and treatment of depression in adolescents and young adults. Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1878

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Molinaro, S., Benedetti, E., Scalese, M., Bastiani, L., Fortunato, L., Cerrai, S., Canale, N., Chomynova, P., Elekes, Z., & Feijão, F. (2018). Prevalence of youth gambling and potential influence of substance use and other risk factors throughout 33 european countries: First results from the 2015 espad study. Addiction, 113(10), 1862–1873.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017). Mplus users guide (8th ed.). Muthén & Muthén.

  • Nower, L., Martins, S. S., Lin, K. H., & Blanco, C. (2013). Subtypes of disordered gamblers: Results from the n ational e pidemiologic survey on a lcohol and related conditions. Addiction, 108(4), 789–798.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman, A. S., Pilver, C. E., Desai, R. A., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., Krishnan-Sarin, S., & Potenza, M. N. (2012). The relationship between age of gambling onset and adolescent problematic gambling severity. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 46(5), 675–683.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Richard, J., Fletcher, E., Boutin, S., Derevensky, J., & Temcheff, C. (2020). Conduct problems and depressive symptoms in association with problem gambling and gaming: A systematic review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9(3), 497–533. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00045

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Richard, J., Temcheff, C., Fletcher, E., Lemieux, A., Derevensky, J., & Déry, M. (2022). Externalizing and internalizing trajectories to adolescent gambling: A longitudinal study. International Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2022.2154378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sideli, L., La Barbera, D., Montana, S., Sartorio, C. R., Seminerio, F., Corso, M., Giunta, S., Mannino, G., & La Cascia, C. (2018). Pathological gambling in adolescence: A narrative review. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2018.6.1738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traoré, I., Pica, L., Camirand, H., Cazale, L., Berthelot, M., Plante, N., & Courtemanche, R. (2015). Enquête québécoise sur le tabac, l’alcool, la drogue et le jeu chez les élèves du secondaire, 2013: Évolution des comportements au cours des 15 dernières années. Institut de la statistique du Québec.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veselka, L., Wijesingha, R., Leatherdale, S. T., Turner, N. E., & Elton-Marshall, T. (2018). Factors associated with social casino gaming among adolescents across game types. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winters, K. C., Stinchfield, R. D., Botzet, A., & Anderson, N. (2002). A prospective study of youth gambling behaviors. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1037//0893-164x.16.1.3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yakovenko, I., & Hodgins, D. C. (2018). A scoping review of co-morbidity in individuals with disordered gambling. International Gambling Studies, 18(1), 143–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zucker, R. A., Heitzeg, M. M., & Nigg, J. T. (2011). Parsing the undercontrol–disinhibition pathway to substance use disorders: A multilevel developmental problem. Child Development Perspectives, 5(4), 248–255.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank everyone involved in this longitudinal study for their assistance with data collection.

Funding

Funding was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant Nos. NRF 82694 and 318770), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant No. 37890 as well as a Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral award), and a doctoral award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC): Programme de bourse sur le jeu responsible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3724 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 1Y2, Canada

    Émilie Fletcher, Jérémie Richard, Jeffrey Derevensky & Caroline Temcheff

  2. International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Émilie Fletcher, Jérémie Richard, Jeffrey Derevensky & Caroline Temcheff

  3. Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Stéphanie Boutin

  4. Groupe de recherche et d’intervention sur les adaptations sociales de l’enfance (GRISE), Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

    Stéphanie Boutin, Annie Lemieux, Michèle Déry & Caroline Temcheff

  5. Département de Psychoéducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

    Annie Lemieux, Michèle Déry & Caroline Temcheff

Authors
  1. Émilie Fletcher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jérémie Richard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stéphanie Boutin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Annie Lemieux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michèle Déry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jeffrey Derevensky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Caroline Temcheff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline Temcheff.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fletcher, É., Richard, J., Boutin, S. et al. Trajectory Classes of Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms to Adolescent Gambling Participation: An Exploratory Study. J Gambl Stud 39, 1751–1763 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10182-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10182-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation