Association between Adverse Life Events and Addictive Behaviors among Male and Female Adolescents - abstract

"Background: Adverse life events have been associated with gambling and substance use as they can serve as forms of escapism. Involvement in gambling and substance use can also place individuals in adversely stressful situations. Objectives: To explore potential male-female differences in the association between addictive behavior and adverse life events among an urban cohort of adolescents....Conclusion: Findings from the current study prompt future studies to devote more attention to the development of effective programs that teach adaptive coping strategies to adolescents, particularly to females upon exposure to violence. (Am J Addict 2012;21:516-523)."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23082829