Variety of gambling activities from adolescence to age 30 and association with gambling problems: a 15-year longitudinal study of a general population sample.

Aims: To estimate trajectories of gambling variety from mid-adolescence to age 30 years, and compare the different trajectory groups with regard to the type and the frequency of gambling activities practiced and gambling-related problems.

Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: Province of Quebec, Canada.

Participants: A mixed-gender general population cohort assessed at ages 15 (n=1882), 22 (n=1785) and 30 (n=1358).

Measurements: Adolescent and adult versions of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS).

Findings: Group-based trajectory analysis identified three distinct trajectories: a late-onset low trajectory (26.7% of sample) initiating gambling at age 22, an early-onset low trajectory (64.8% of sample), characterized by one to two different activities from age 15 onwards and a high trajectory (8.4% of sample), with an average of four to five different activities from age 15 to 30. Males (14.2%) were four times more likely to be on a high trajectory than females (3.5%) (P<0.001). Preferred types of gambling activities were similar across the three trajectories. Participants on a high trajectory reported higher gambling frequency at ages 15 and 30, and were more likely to experience problem gambling at age 30: 3.09 [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.66, 5.75] and 2.26 (95% CI=1.27, 4.04) times more, respectively, than late-onset low and early-onset low participants, even when socio-economic status (SES), frequency of gambling and problem gambling in adolescence, gender, age 30 education, SES and frequency of gambling were controlled.

Conclusions: Engaging in several different types of gambling in early adulthood appears to be a risk factor for emergence of problem gambling.