1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The goal of the present study was to examine whether directional links between gambling participation and academic performance exist from early to late adolescence, even when controlling for the stability of these behaviors and for common antecedent factors (i.e., impulsivity and socio-family adversity) and current correlated risk behaviors (i.e., alcohol and drug use).» (p. 882)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The 766 adolescents (402 girls, 364 boys) participating in this study were part of a population-based sample of twin pairs (1324 individuals) recruited at birth […]. Participants were recruited from the Québec Newborn Twin Registry, which identified all twin births occurring in the Province of Quebec between 1995 and 1998. All parents in the registry living in the Greater Montreal area were asked to enroll with their twins in the study (n = 989 families) and 662 families agreed to participate.» (p. 883)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Results from the bivariate correlations showed that gambling participation and academic performance were significantly, albeit modestly, concurrently correlated both at age 14 and at age 17. More importantly, results from the cross-lagged multivariate analyses showed that a higher level of gambling participation at age 14 predicted a decrease in academic performance from age 14 to age 17. Results also showed that, with only one exception, higher levels of impulsivity and of socio-family risk at age 12 predicted higher gambling participation and lower academic performance at age 14 and at age 17. When these common antecedent factors were controlled, the concurrent relation between gambling participation and academic performance at age 14 and at age 17 disappeared. However, the longitudinal link from gambling participation at age 14 to decreased academic performance from age 14 to age 17 remained unaffected. [Moreover,] reciprocal longitudinal links were found between gambling participation and substance use.» (p. 889) «Our results also confirm the pervasive role of socio-familial risk, which has been related to both elevated levels of gambling involvement and low academic performance among adolescents in previous studies […]. Attenuating these risk factors through prevention should result in a reduction in gambling participation and substance use as well as in an improvement in academic performance.» (p. 890)