Dataset Information

Suicidality and gambling among young adults in Great Britain: results from a cross-sectional online survey.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Suicide rates in young people have increased in England and Wales since 2010. There are a range of possible explanations for this increase, and problem gambling has been suggested as a potential risk factor. We aimed to examine the association between suicidality (suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts) and problem gambling specifically for young adults in Great Britain, where gambling has become more widely available and normalised in the past two decades.

Methods

We analysed data from the Emerging Adults Gambling Survey: a cross-sectional, online, non-probability sample survey of young adults aged 16-24 years living in Great Britain, who were selected from a YouGov online panel. Participants were eligible if they had not taken part in any other YouGov survey on gambling in the past year. We examined associations between problem gambling (defined as a score of 8 or higher on the Problem Gambling Severity Index [PGSI]) and suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in the year before survey completion in a series of regression models, with and without adjustment for sociodemographic factors, alcohol use, video gaming, anxiety, loneliness, and impulsivity.

Findings

3549 eligible participants completed the survey between June 25 and Aug 16, 2019. 24 (37·0% [95% CI 25·6-50·2]) of 62 men who had attempted suicide in the past year had survey scores that were indicative of problem gambling, compared with 38 (3·6% [2·6-5·0]) of 1077 men who had not attempted suicide or had suicidal thoughts in the past year. 13 (14·5% [8·5-23·6]) of 85 women who had attempted suicide in the past year had survey scores that were indicative of problem gambling, compared with 25 (2·0% [1·4-3·0]) of 1184 women who had not attempted suicide or had suicidal thoughts in the past year. The adjusted odds ratio for attempted suicide was 9·0 (4·1-19·7) in men with scores that indicated problem gambling and 4·9 (2·0-12·0) in women with scores that indicated problem gambling, compared with participants of the same gender with PGSI scores of 0.

Interpretation

Problem gambling appears to be associated with suicide attempts in both young men and young women. This association persisted after adjusting for anxiety, impulsivity, life satisfaction, and other factors, which suggests that other mechanisms, such as the severity and multiplicity of harms experienced, or gambling to cope with life stressors, might underpin this relationship. Young people with problem-gambling behaviours should be considered at risk for suicidality.

Funding

Wellcome Trust.

SUBMITTER: Wardle H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7788474 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:AimsTo estimate recent trends in the prevalence of disposable e-cigarette vaping in Great Britain, overall and across ages, and to measure these trends in the context of changes in smoking and vaping prevalence.DesignThe Smoking Toolkit Study, a monthly representative cross-sectional survey.SettingGreat Britain.ParticipantsA total of 36 876 adults (≥ 18 years) completed telephone interviews between January 2021 and April 2022.MeasurementsCurrent e-cigarette vapers were asked which type of device they mainly use. We estimated age-specific monthly time trends in the prevalence of current disposable e-cigarette use among vapers and inhaled nicotine use (vaping/smoking), smoking and vaping among adults.FindingsFrom January 2021 to April 2022, there was an 18-fold increase in the percentage of vapers who used disposables, rising from 1.2 to 22.2% [prevalence ratio (PR) = 18.0; 95% compatibility interval (CI) = 9.18-49.0]. Growth in disposable e-cigarette vaping was most pronounced in younger adults (interaction P-value = 0.013): for example, the percentage of 18-year-old vapers using disposables rose from 0.4 to 54.8% (PR = 129; 95% CI = 28.5-4520), while it rose from 2.1 to 10.0% (PR = 4.73; 95% CI = 2.06-23.6) among 45-year-old vapers. However, the overall percentage of people currently using any inhaled nicotine remained stable over time both among all adults (20.0 versus 21.2%; PR = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.92-1.22) and among 18-year-olds (30.2 versus 29.7%; PR = 0.99; 95% CI = 0.80-1.22). In 18-year-olds, vaping prevalence grew (11.3 versus 17.7%; PR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.12-2.29), and there was imprecise evidence for a decline in smoking (24.5 versus 19.5%; PR = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.63-1.04). In 45-year-olds, there was relatively little change in vaping (PR = 1.08; 95% CI = 0.88-1.33) or smoking prevalence (PR = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.88-1.16).ConclusionsUse of disposable e-cigarettes in Great Britain grew rapidly between 2021 and 2022, especially among younger adults, but the overall prevalence of inhaled nicotine use was stable over time. Most young adult vapers in Great Britain now use disposable products.

Project description:BackgroundSuicide is a serious public health concern all over the world including Bangladesh. About 9% of the patients admitted with suicidal ideation (SI) or suicide attempt (SA) later complete suicide. To understand and prevent suicide, the study of SI and SA is necessary but research in this area is scanty in Bangladesh. Therefore, we studied suicidality (SI and SA) among married adults in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh.MethodsThis was a household cross-sectional study. A total of 708 married adults were selected for this study using a multi-stage random sampling. Suicidality was measured based on two factors: (i) suicidal ideation, and (ii) suicide attempt. Frequency distribution, Chi-square test and multiple binary logistic regression model were used in this study according to our objectives.ResultsThe prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicidality was 5.8%, 3.4%, and 8.3% respectively among married adults. A multiple binary logistic regression model provided the following risk factors of suicidality: (i) joint family (AOR = 0.310, p<0.01), (ii) ≥26 years of age at the first marriage (AOR = 0.379, p<0.05), (iii) twice or more marriage (AOR = 0.214, p<0.01), (iv) conjugal life of ≥16 years (AOR = 0.410, p<0.05), (v) having no child (AOR = 6.343, p<0.01) and (vi) having 1-2 children (AOR = 6.190, p<0.01), (vii) medical comorbidity (AOR = 0.421, p<0.01), (viii) mental comorbidity (AOR = 0.253, p<0.01), (ix) stress-anxiety (AOR = 0.311, p<0.01), (x) family history of mental disorders (AOR = 0.059, p<0.01), (xi) family history of suicide/suicide attempt (AOR = 0.009, p<0.01), (xii) substance abuse (AOR = 0.065, p<0.01), (xiii) poor relationship with spouse (AOR = 0.209, p<0.01), and (xiv) poor relationship with other family members (AOR = 0.347, p<0.05).ConclusionThe prevalence of suicidality is remarkable in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. The government and non-government agencies can use the findings of this study to identify the vulnerable groups and undertake measures for preventing and reducing suicidality.

Project description:BackgroundYoung people are particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties, but very few seek treatment or help during this time. Online help-seeking may offer an additional domain where young people can seek aid for mental health difficulties, yet our current understanding of how young people seek help online is limited.ObjectiveThis was an exploratory study which aimed to investigate the online help-seeking behaviors and preferences of young people.MethodsThis study made use of an anonymous online survey. Young people aged 18-25, living in Ireland, were recruited through social media ads on Twitter and Facebook and participated in the survey.ResultsA total of 1308 respondents completed the survey. Many of the respondents (80.66%; 1055/1308) indicated that they would use their mobile phone to look online for help for a personal or emotional concern. When looking for help online, 82.57% (1080/1308) of participants made use of an Internet search, while 57.03% (746/1308) made use of a health website. When asked about their satisfaction with these resources, 36.94% (399/1080) indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with an Internet search while 49.33% (368/746) indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with a health website. When asked about credibility, health websites were found to be the most trustworthy, with 39.45% (516/1308) indicating that they found them to be trustworthy or very trustworthy. Most of the respondents (82.95%; 1085/1308) indicated that a health service logo was an important indicator of credibility, as was an endorsement by schools and colleges (54.97%; 719/1308). Important facilitators of online help-seeking included the anonymity and confidentiality offered by the Internet, with 80% (1046/1308) of the sample indicating that it influenced their decision a lot or quite a lot. A noted barrier was being uncertain whether information on an online resource was reliable, with 55.96% (732/1308) of the respondents indicating that this influenced their decision a lot or quite a lot.ConclusionsFindings from this survey suggest that young people are engaging with web-based mental health resources to assist them with their mental health concerns. However, levels of satisfaction with the available resources vary. Young people are engaging in strategies to assign credibility to web-based resources, however, uncertainty around their reliability is a significant barrier to online help-seeking.

Project description:Rational/Objective Mandating vaccinations can harm public trust, and informational interventions can backfire. An alternative approach could align pro-vaccination messages with the automatic moral values and intuitions that vaccine-hesitant people endorse. The current study evaluates the relationships between six automatic moral intuitions and vaccine hesitancy. Methods A cross-sectional survey was designed using Qualtrics (2020) software and conducted online from the 6th to the 13th of April 2021. A representative sample of 1201 people living in Great Britain took part, of which 954 (514 female) passed the attention check items. Participants responded to items about their automatic moral intuitions, vaccination behaviours or intentions related to COVID-19 vaccines, and general vaccine hesitancy. A series of regressions (with and without adjustments for age, gender, and ethnicity) was performed assessing the association between endorsement of each automatic intuition and self-reported uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, and between each automatic intuition and general vaccine hesitancy. Results People who endorsed the authority foundation and those who more strongly endorsed the liberty foundation tended to be more vaccine hesitant. This pattern generalises across people's self-reported uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and people's hesitancy towards vaccines in general. To a lesser extent people who expressed less need for care and a greater need for sanctity also displayed greater hesitancy towards vaccines in general. The results were consistent across the adjusted and non-adjusted analyses. Age and ethnicity significantly contributed to some models, but gender did not. Conclusion Four automatic moral intuitions (authority, liberty, care, and sanctity) were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy. Foundation-aligned messages could be developed to motivate those people who may otherwise refuse vaccines, e.g., messages that strongly promote liberty or that de-emphasize authority voices. This suggestion moves away from mandates and promotes the inclusion of a more diverse range of voices in pro-vaccination campaigns.

Project description:ObjectiveTo examine adolescent healthcare clinicians' self-reported screening practices as well as their knowledge, attitudes, comfort level and challenges with screening and counselling adolescents and young adults (AYA) for cigarette, e-cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, hookah and blunt use.DesignA 2016 cross-sectional survey.SettingAcademic departments and community-based internal medicine, family medicine and paediatrics practices.ParticipantsAdolescent healthcare clinicians (N=771) from 12 US medical schools and respondents to national surveys. Of the participants, 36% indicated male, 64% female, mean age was 44 years (SD=12.3); 12.3% of participants identified as Asian, 73.7% as white, 4.8% as black, 4.2% as Hispanic and 3.8% as other.Primary and secondary outcome measuresSurvey items queried clinicians about knowledge, attitudes, comfort level, self-efficacy and challenges with screening and counselling AYA patients about marijuana, blunts, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, hookah and alcohol.ResultsParticipants were asked what percentage of their 10-17 years old patients they screened for substance use. The median number of physicians reported screening 100% of their patients for cigarette (1st, 3rd quartiles; 80, 100) and alcohol use (75, 100) and 99.5% for marijuana use (50,100); for e-cigarettes, participants reported screening half of their patients and 0.0% (0, 50), (0, 75)) reported screening for hookah and blunts, respectively. On average (median), clinicians estimated that 15.0% of all 10-17 years old patients smoked cigarettes, 10.0% used e-cigarettes, 20.0% used marijuana, 25.0% drank alcohol and 5.0% used hookah or blunts, respectively; yet they estimated lower than national rates of use of each product for their own patients. Clinicians reported greater comfort discussing cigarettes and alcohol with patients and less comfort discussing e-cigarettes, hookah, marijuana and blunts.ConclusionsThis study identified low rates of screening and counselling AYA patients for use of e-cigarettes, hookahs and blunts by adolescent healthcare clinicians and points to potential missed opportunities to improve prevention efforts.