The Quinte Longitudinal Study (QLS) is a prospective study of gambling and problem gambling conducted in the Quinte region of Ontario, Canada from 2006 to 2011. A sample of 4,121 adults, 17 and older, was recruited via random digit telephone dialing with 26% of the sample overselected for higher levels of gambling involvement. The sample was roughly representative of the demographic profile of the Canadian adult population, and the geographic region had very similar gambling opportunities to the rest of Canada. The cohort was assessed annually over 5 years. Assessments were computerized and self-administered and were completed either online at the person’s home or at the QLS office in Belleville. The assessment collected comprehensive information on demographics, gambling behaviour, physical health, mental health, substance use and abuse, stressors, personal values, social functioning, personality, leisure activity, and intelligence. An exceptionally high retention rate of 93.9% after 5 years was achieved.
The QLS had four main research questions:
- What are the normal patterns of continuity and discontinuity in gambling and problem gambling over time?
- What individual, social, and structural variables mediate the development of responsible gambling and problem gambling?
- What etiological model of gambling and problem gambling emerges from these findings?
- What are the implications of these results for the prevention of problem gambling?
A very similar longitudinal study was conducted in the same time period in Alberta, the Leisure, Lifestyle, and Lifecycle Project (LLLP). A set of parallel analyses was conducted on the LLLP dataset to identify findings that were robustly supported in both studies. The collective findings of the QLS and LLLP studies represent the most comprehensive longitudinal analysis of gambling and problem gambling currently in the literature.
