The Impact of Academic Stress and Depression on Youth Gambling — Application of the Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Model —

Youth gambling has emerged as a societal iceberg, threatening not only their future but also the tomorrow of us all. Adolescence is a transitional stage of mental and psychological growth, making youth particularly susceptible to risky behaviors such as gambling during this period. This susceptibility underscores the danger, as it can lead to various deviant behaviors or crimes, including gambling addiction. Although research on youth gambling is actively conducted both domestically and internationally, longitudinal studies remain insufficient.This study focused on academic stress and depression to analyze the factors influencing youth gambling and the relationships between variables from a longitudinal perspective. To achieve this, data from the first-year middle school panel of the “Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018 (KCYPS 2018)” were utilized, analyzing data from the first, second, and third waves. The autoregressive cross-lagged model was employed to verify longitudinal mediation effects.