Anna Paul

Profile

Project Title: Using causally informed approaches to disentangle the association between disordered gambling and mental health disorders.

Summary: Gambling disorder is a behavioural addiction of increasing public health concern and is associated with a broad range of negative consequences, including financial loss and debt, divorce, and homelessness. Additionally, individuals with disordered gambling are more likely to experience comorbid mental health disorders. Most notably, disordered gambling has been associated with depression, anxiety, and substance misuse. To-date, the majority of previous studies have explored the associations between disordered gambling and mental health disorders using cross-sectional research designs. As a result, it is difficult to disentangle the relationship between gambling disorder and other psychopathology, more specifically the extent to which other mental health problems may lead to disordered gambling, and the extent to which disordered gambling may contribute to other mental health problems. 
 
The goal of my PhD project is to disentangle the complex associations between disordered gambling and mental health disorders by triangulating evidence across different causally informed research designs. First, I will explore the role of shared genetics in the associations between disordered gambling and mental health disorders, to understand the extent to which common genetic vulnerabilities confound these associations. This will include a systematic review of genetically informed studies (twin and molecular genetic studies) that examine the link between gambling disorder and other mental health problems. Secondly, I will use longitudinal data to investigate the reciprocal causal relationships between disordered gambling and mental health disorders both within and between persons from early adolescence into late adulthood. Overall, my research will have important implications for clinical treatments that aim to reduce disordered gambling prevalence by targeting comorbid mental health disorders.

Supervisor:

• Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais

Research