Journal of Gambling Studies

, Volume 30, Issue 2, pp 321–333 | Cite as

Disordered gambling and co-morbidity of psychiatric disorders among college students: An examination of problem drinking, anxiety and depression

  • Ryan J. Martin
  • Stuart Usdan
  • Jennifer Cremeens
  • Karen Vail-Smith
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

We assessed the occurrence of co-morbid psychiatric disorders (i.e., problem drinking, anxiety, and depression) among college students who met the threshold for disordered gambling. The participants included a large sample of undergraduate students (n = 1,430) who were enrolled in an introductory health course at a large, southeastern university in Spring 2011 and completed an online assessment that included scales to assess disordered gambling, problem drinking, anxiety, and depression. We calculated screening scores, computed prevalence rates for each disorder, and calculated Pearson correlations and Chi square tests to examine correlations and co-morbid relationships between the four disorders. Analyses indicated that all disorders were significantly associated (p < .01) except for disordered gambling and anxiety. Because college students who experience disordered gambling (and other psychiatric disorders) are at increased risk of experiencing co-occurring disorders, it might be useful for college health professionals to concurrently screen and intervene for co-occurring disorders.

Keywords

College students Co-morbidity Disordered gambling Anxiety Depression Problem drinking 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ryan J. Martin
    • 1
  • Stuart Usdan
    • 2
  • Jennifer Cremeens
    • 3
  • Karen Vail-Smith
    • 4
  1. 1.Department of Health Education and PromotionEast Carolina UniversityGreenvilleUSA
  2. 2.College of Human Environmental SciencesUniversity of AlabamaTuscaloosaUSA
  3. 3.Department of Health Education and PromotionEast Carolina UniversityGreenvilleUSA
  4. 4.Department of Health Education and PromotionEast Carolina UniversityGreenvilleUSA

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