Abstract
This mixed-methods study examined the perceived causes of problematic substance use, gambling, and other behaviours from the perspective of individuals with lived experience, using the syndrome model of addiction as a theoretical framework. Participants were 1473 individuals who completed the Quinte Longitudinal Study and reported problematic substance use (n = 382), gambling (n = 394), other behaviours (n = 287), or more than one of these problems (n = 410). The perceived causes of their problems were assessed using open-ended questions, which were then quantified following a content analysis. A total of 2272 responses were coded into 25 themes. Causes were largely consistent across the substance use, gambling, and other behaviours, though differed significantly in their relative proportions. Coping was the most cited cause (23.1%). Unique causes were also identified, including financial reasons for gambling. These results suggest similar aetiologies for problems with substance use and behavioural addictions from the perspective of people with lived experiences, with some important differences.
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Data Availability
Data for the present study are available upon request with approval from the authors’ institutional research ethics board and the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO) data repository.
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Conceptualization: Hyoun S. Kim and Nassim Tabri; Methodology: Robert Williams; Formal analysis and investigation: Sophie Coelho, Taylor Lefevbre, and Sierra Longpre; Writing—original draft preparation: Sophie Coelho; Writing—review and editing: Hyoun S. Kim, Nassim Tabri, Nick Kerman, Taylor Lefebvre, Sierra Longpre, and Robert Williams; Resources: Hyoun S. Kim; Supervision: Hyoun S. Kim.
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Coelho, S.G., Tabri, N., Kerman, N. et al. The Perceived Causes of Problems with Substance Use, Gambling, and Other Behavioural Addictions from the Perspective of People with Lived Experience: a Mixed-Methods Investigation. Int J Ment Health Addiction 22, 722–745 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00900-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00900-3