Traumatic brain injuries and problem gambling in youth: Evidence from a population-based study of secondary students in Ontario, Canada

Nigel E. Turner; Steven Cook; Jing Shi; Tara Elton-Marshall; Hayley Hamilton; Gabriela Ilie; Christine M. Wickens; André J. McDonald; Nico Trajtenberg; Michael D. Cusimano; Robert E. Mann

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239661

Traumatic brain injuries and problem gambling in youth: Evidence from a population-based study of secondary students in Ontario, Canada

Nigel E. Turner, Steven Cook, Jing Shi, Tara Elton-Marshall, Hayley Hamilton, Gabriela Ilie, Christine M. Wickens, André J. McDonald, Nico Trajtenberg, Michael D. Cusimano, Robert E. Mann

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by a change in brain function after an external force or sudden movement to the head. TBI is associated with risk-taking, impulsivity, psychological distress, substance abuse, and violent crime. Previous studies have also linked problem gambling to TBI, but these studies have not controlled for possible confounding variables such as mental health problems and hazardous drinking which are also linked to TBI. This study examines the relationship between problem gambling and TBI among adolescents. Data were obtained from the 2011, 2013 and 2015 cycles of the OSDUHS, a biennial cross-sectional school-based study of children in grades 7 to 12 (N = 9,198). Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) in controlled and uncontrolled analyses. Adjusting for sex and grade only, problem gambling was associated with a history of TBI (AOR = 2.8). This association remained significant after adjusting for hazardous drinking and suicidality (AOR = 2.0). In addition, problem gambling had a statistically significant relationship with being male (AOR = 4.7), hazardous drinking (AOR = 4.5), and suicidality (AOR = 3.1). This study provides further data to suggest a link between TBI and problem gambling. However, research is needed on the causal relationship between these variables and the potential implications for treatment and prevention.

Original language	English
Article number	e0239661
Journal	PLoS One
Volume	15
Issue number	10 October
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239661
Publication status	Published - Oct 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This research is based on the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health initiative funded in part through ongoing support from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, as well as targeted funding from several provincial agencies. Additional funding was provided by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care as grant number 06703. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Turner et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Turner, N. E., Cook, S., Shi, J., Elton-Marshall, T., Hamilton, H., Ilie, G., Wickens, C. M., McDonald, A. J., Trajtenberg, N., Cusimano, M. D., & Mann, R. E. (2020). Traumatic brain injuries and problem gambling in youth: Evidence from a population-based study of secondary students in Ontario, Canada. PLoS One, 15(10 October), Article e0239661. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239661

Turner, NE, Cook, S, Shi, J, Elton-Marshall, T, Hamilton, H, Ilie, G, Wickens, CM, McDonald, AJ, Trajtenberg, N, Cusimano, MD & Mann, RE 2020, 'Traumatic brain injuries and problem gambling in youth: Evidence from a population-based study of secondary students in Ontario, Canada', PLoS One, vol. 15, no. 10 October, e0239661. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239661

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abstract = "Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by a change in brain function after an external force or sudden movement to the head. TBI is associated with risk-taking, impulsivity, psychological distress, substance abuse, and violent crime. Previous studies have also linked problem gambling to TBI, but these studies have not controlled for possible confounding variables such as mental health problems and hazardous drinking which are also linked to TBI. This study examines the relationship between problem gambling and TBI among adolescents. Data were obtained from the 2011, 2013 and 2015 cycles of the OSDUHS, a biennial cross-sectional school-based study of children in grades 7 to 12 (N = 9,198). Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) in controlled and uncontrolled analyses. Adjusting for sex and grade only, problem gambling was associated with a history of TBI (AOR = 2.8). This association remained significant after adjusting for hazardous drinking and suicidality (AOR = 2.0). In addition, problem gambling had a statistically significant relationship with being male (AOR = 4.7), hazardous drinking (AOR = 4.5), and suicidality (AOR = 3.1). This study provides further data to suggest a link between TBI and problem gambling. However, research is needed on the causal relationship between these variables and the potential implications for treatment and prevention.",

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Traumatic brain injuries and problem gambling in youth: Evidence from a population-based study of secondary students in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

UN SDGs

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