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Latent profiles of family background, personality and mental health factors and their association with behavioural addictions and substance use disorders in young Swiss men

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Simon Marmet*
Affiliation:
aAlcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital/CHUV, Switzerland
Joseph Studer
Affiliation:
aAlcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital/CHUV, Switzerland
Ansgar Rougemont-Bücking
Affiliation:
aAlcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital/CHUV, Switzerland
Gerhard Gmel
Affiliation:
aAlcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital/CHUV, Switzerland bAddiction Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland cCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada dUniversity of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author at: Service d'Alcoologie, P2.01.113, Avenue de Beaumont 21b, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. E-mail address: simon.marmet@chuv.ch (S. Marmet).

Abstract

Background:

Recent theories suggest that behavioural addictions and substance use disorders may be the result of the same underlying vulnerability. The present study investigates profiles of family background, personality and mental health factors and their associations with seven behavioural addictions (to the internet, gaming, smartphones, internet sex, gambling, exercise and work) and three substance use disorder scales (for alcohol, cannabis and tobacco).

Methods:

The sample consisted of 5287 young Swiss men (mean age = 25.42) from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). A latent profile analysis was performed on family background, personality and mental health factors. The derived profiles were compared with regards to means and prevalence rates of the behavioural addiction and substance use disorder scales.

Results:

Seven latent profiles were identified, ranging from profiles with a positive family background, favourable personality patterns and low values on mental health scales to profiles with a negative family background, unfavourable personality pattern and high values on mental health scales. Addiction scale means, corresponding prevalence rates and the number of concurrent addictions were highest in profiles with high values on mental health scales and a personality pattern dominated by neuroticism. Overall, behavioural addictions and substance use disorders showed similar patterns across latent profiles.

Conclusion:

Patterns of family background, personality and mental health factors were associated with different levels of vulnerability to addictions. Behavioural addictions and substance use disorders may thus be the result of the same underlying vulnerabilities.

Information

Type
Original article
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2018
Figure 0

Fig 1. Graphical summary of profiles.Note: The figure’s scale means were z-standardised (mean = 0, SD = 1) for better readability. Binary variables (family situation and parental divorce) are shown as a proportion (p.). Bipolar disorder was included in the latent class model, but is not shown in the graphical summary, because a dichotomous measure would have distorted the figure (for values see Table 2). ADHD = attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Figure 1

Table 1 Model statistics for two-profile to eight-profile solutions used for deciding on the number of profiles.

Figure 2

Table 2 Means for continuous variables and percentages for binary indicator variables, by profile.

Figure 3

Fig 2. Z-standardised means of behavioural and substance use disorder scales across profiles.Note: z-standardised (mean = 0; SD = 1) values from Table 3; exercise addiction did not differ considerably across profiles (see Table 3; supplementary Table 1 for significance tests) and was not included in the figure because it would distort the figure.

Figure 4

Table 3 Means, standard error and prevalence (in%) for behavioural addiction and substance use disorder scales, by profile.

Figure 5

Table 4 Summary of profile characteristics and mean values on the substance use disorders and behavioural addictions.

Supplementary material: File

Marmet et al. supplementary material

Table S1
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