Test of a Potential Causal Influence of Earlier Age of Gambling Initiation on Gambling Involvement and Disorder: A Multilevel Discordant Twin Design

Wendy S Slutske; Arielle R Deutsch; Leah S Richmond-Rakerd; Pavel Chernyavskiy; Dixie J Statham; Nicholas G Martin

doi:10.1037/a0035356

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Test of a Potential Causal Influence of Earlier Age of Gambling Initiation on Gambling Involvement and Disorder: A Multilevel Discordant Twin Design

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Test of a Potential Causal Influence of Earlier Age of Gambling Initiation on Gambling Involvement and Disorder: A Multilevel Discordant Twin Design

Wendy S Slutske, Arielle R Deutsch, Leah S Richmond-Rakerd, Pavel Chernyavskiy, Dixie J Statham and Nicholas G Martin

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Vol.28(4), pp.1177-1189

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035356

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Abstract

gambling

disordered gambling

age of onset

discordant twins

multilevel modeling

The premise that an association between an earlier age of gambling initiation and the later development of disordered gambling is causal has not yet been empirically examined. The current study used a multilevel discordant twin design to examine the nature of this association. Participants were 3,546 same-sex twins (mean age = 37.7 years) from the Australian Twin Registry who completed a telephone interview that included an extensive assessment of gambling and related behaviors. Multilevel models were employed to estimate individual (within-twin-pair comparison) and family level (between-twin-pair comparison) effects, as well as the cross-level interaction between these effects. Family-level effects (genetic or environmental factors shared by family members) of age of gambling initiation robustly predicted later adult gambling frequency and disorder; the evidence for individual-level effects (unique factors not shared by family members, including a potentially causal effect of earlier age of gambling onset) was less robust. The results of this study suggest that the relation between earlier age of gambling initiation and later gambling involvement and disorder is primarily noncausal; efforts to delay the onset of gambling among young people may not necessarily reduce the number who later go on to develop gambling-related problems.

Details

Title: Test of a Potential Causal Influence of Earlier Age of Gambling Initiation on Gambling Involvement and Disorder: A Multilevel Discordant Twin Design
Authors: Wendy S Slutske (Author) - University of Missouri, United States
Arielle R Deutsch (Author) - University of Missouri, United States
Leah S Richmond-Rakerd (Author) - University of Missouri, United States
Pavel Chernyavskiy (Author) - University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States
Dixie J Statham (Author) - Queensland Institute of Medical Research
Nicholas G Martin (Author) - Queensland Institute of Medical Research
Publication details: Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Vol.28(4), pp.1177-1189
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Date published: 2014
DOI: 10.1037/a0035356
ISSN: 0893-164X
Copyright note: Copyright © 2014 American Psychological Assocation. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
Organisation Unit: School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99448629702621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Psychology, Multidisciplinary; Substance Abuse

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