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Authors: Giovanni Aresi (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Chiara Arienti (ATS Città Metropolitana di Milano, Milano), Elena Marta (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Background: Despite the implementation of legal age restrictions, gambling has become a prevalent activity among high school students, particularly among male adolescents. A notable limitation of extant research on adolescent gambling is its tendency to examine this behavior in isolation, thereby overlooking the evidence on the comorbidity between alcohol/drug use disorders and problem gambling.
Aim and Methods: The objective of the present study is to address the aforementioned gap by examining patterns of risk behaviors (i.e., substance use and gambling) among a representative sample of Italian adolescents aged 15 and 17 years living in the Lombardy region. The identification of subgroups of individuals characterized by common behavioral patterns was conducted using Latent Class Analysis, a statistical method that utilizes measured indicators to identify and analyze latent groups within a data set. The invariance of gender and age cohort, as well as the relations between class membership and gambling behavior severity and indicators of health status, were tested.
Results: Four distinct gender and age cohort variant patterns of risk behaviors were identified. The first pattern is characterized by a relative absence of risky behaviors. The remaining three patterns are distinguished by the predominant use of a single substance (e.g., alcohol, tobacco) or the concomitant use of a combination of multiple substances (e.g., polyconsumption). The presence of gambling did not manifest as a singular behavior within any of these profiles. Instead, it co-occurred with risk profiles characterized by polyconsumption. Individuals exhibiting polyconsumption patterns demonstrated higher levels of gambling severity and poorer health outcomes.
Discussion: A more nuanced understanding of gambling can be achieved by analyzing it in conjunction with other risk behaviors. The implications for preventive interventions targeting adolescents and the broader community in which they reside will be discussed.
| Conflict of interest | The authors declare that they have no potential conflict of interest with respect to the content of this presentation. |
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