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Latent Profile Analyses of Addiction and Mental Health Problems in Two Large Samples

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Abstract

This study explored patterns of addictive behaviours and mental health symptoms among two distinct, non-treatment-seeking samples. A total of 1612 undergraduate students and 607 community-based adults reported on substance use (alcohol, cannabis, vaping), behavioural addictions (gambling, gaming, shopping, eating, sex), mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, ADHD), and psychosocial variables (impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, childhood adversity, social support). Latent profile analysis was used to classify participants into statistically distinct and homogenous subgroups based on addiction and mental health indicator variables. A three-step procedure was performed to predict latent profile membership based on psychosocial variables. In each sample, parallel three-profile solutions emerged. Profile 1 (the “normative” profile) was the largest and characterized by low problematic substance use, behavioural addictions, and mental distress. Profile 2 (the “behavioural and mental health” profile) was characterized by low problematic substance use, and elevated behavioural addictions and mental distress. Profile 3 (the “substance, behavioural, and mental health” profile) was characterized by elevated problematic substance use, behavioural addictions, and mental distress. Non-normative profiles differed from the normative profile on several psychosocial variables. Results highlight the tendency for problems with addiction and mental health to co-occur, underscoring the need for greater emphasis on assessing and treating concurrent disorders.

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Data, Materials, and Code

Data and code for analyses reported in this study have been made publicly available on the Open Science Framework and can be accessed at https://osf.io/yh3bu/.

Notes

  1. Though measured using the SSBA, problematic cigarette use was excluded due to low rates of past-year cigarette use in both student and community samples (11% and 16%, respectively).

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Funding

Funding for this study was provided by a Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty of Arts research grant. The Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty of Arts had no role in the study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; writing the manuscript; or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

SGC: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing—original draft; MTK: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing, supervision; DCH: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing; NWS: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing; PKP: data collection, writing—review and editing; HSK: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hyoun S. Kim.

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Ethics Approval

Approval was obtained from the research ethics boards of Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Calgary, the University of Manitoba, Mount Saint Vincent University, and York University. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Coelho, S.G., Keough, M.T., Hodgins, D.C. et al. Latent Profile Analyses of Addiction and Mental Health Problems in Two Large Samples. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-01003-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-01003-9

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