Investigating Subgroups and Trajectories of Addictive Behaviours in Canadian Immigrants
Addictions are among the most common psychological disorders, with estimates suggesting up to 47% of people may show signs of addiction within a year. While immigrants generally report lower rates of substance use than non-immigrants, significant gaps remain in understanding addiction patterns and risks within immigrant populations.
Objective
When it comes to addictions among immigrant populations, research suggests immigrants report lower rates of substance use. However, key gaps remain, including limited focus beyond alcohol use, little attention to behavioural addictions, and a lack of longitudinal studies tracking changes in addiction risk after migration.
This project aims to address the aforementioned gaps. Specifically, the research team will identify different subgroups of immigrants in relation to their engagement and severity of addictive behaviours. The study will assess a wide array of substance and behavioural addictions to provide a comprehensive understanding of addictive behaviours in immigrants. They will also conduct a longitudinal study to identify changes in addictive behaviours (i.e., trajectories), which may help to identify potential individuals who may be at risk of developing an addiction after immigrating to Canada.
This project aims to address the aforementioned gaps by identifying subgroups of immigrants based on their engagement and severity of addictive behaviours. It examines a wide range of substance and behavioural addictions to provide a comprehensive understanding of addictive behaviours among immigrants. A longitudinal study will help to identify changes in addictive behaviours (i.e., trajectories), which may help to identify potential individuals who may be at risk of developing an addiction after immigrating to Canada.
Research question(s)
- Are there different subgroups of immigrants with varying levels of engagement and risk of addiction problems?
- What characteristics (e.g., demographic, psychological, social determinants of health) are associated with the different subgroups?
- What are the different trajectories of addictive behaviours among immigrants in a 12-month period?
- What characteristics (e.g., demographic, psychological, social determinants of health) predict changes in patterns of addictive behaviours?
Methodology
The project will employ secondary analyses of a multi-site pan Canada collaboration on addictions and mental health. Latent profile analysis will be used to identify different subgroups of immigrants based on addictions and multinomial regressions analyses will identify characteristics of each subgroup.
Building on the cross-sectional nature of the first study, a 4-wave, 12-month longitudinal study will be employed to identify different trajectories of addictions among immigrants. Latent-transition analyses (LTA) will be used to identify different trajectories of engagement in addictions. Once the subgroups are identified, multinomial regression analyses will be conducted to identify baseline risk factors (e.g., poor mental health, discrimination) that predict increased risk of addiction problems at 12-month follow-up.
Status
The project is ongoing and is currently in its initial phase.
Expected completion date: September 2028
Key words
Substance use, behavioral addictions, immigration, risk factors, longitudinal