Pathological Gambling
Conditions
Keywords
Gambling
Brief summary
The purpose of the study is to evaluate a new form of counseling for pathological gambling and to see if the counseling is more effective than attending Gamblers Anonymous.
Detailed description
Subjects will be assigned to counseling or be given a referral list of available Gamblers Anonymous meetings at the first visit based on answers to questions. Assignment to counseling or Gamblers Anonymous will be randomly selected (i.e. chance) with an equal chance of receiving either one. For those assigned to counseling, you will meet with the therapist for 60 minutes weekly. You will receive 5 sessions of counseling. All subjects will be assessed with gambling questionnaires twice during the 5-week period and again at 3 and 6 months following the 5-week period. For those assigned to Gamblers Anonymous, they will be offered 5 weeks of counseling at the end of the 6-month follow-up.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCognitive Behavioral Therapy
5-weeks of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
BEHAVIORALWait-list
subjects assigned to wait-list condition for six-weeks
Sponsors
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
University of Minnesota
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Outpatient men and women age 18 to 75 2. Presence of current DSM-IV pathological gambling for at least 6 months duration 3. PG is the most problematic psychiatric disorder (in the patient's and clinician's opinion) and the primary reason for seeking treatment 4. Minimum score of \>5 on the South Oaks Gambling Screen which reflects gambling severity consistent with pathological gambling
Exclusion criteria
1. Current clinically significant suicidality, severe depression (a score of ≥ 19 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, 17-item version)(30) or any other disorder requiring immediate intervention 2. Presence of any clinical features requiring a higher level of care than outpatient treatment 3. Cognitive impairment that interferes with the capacity to engage in CBT or to provide informed consent 4. DSM-IV substance abuse or dependence within the past 3 months (see Screening Visit) 5. Current Axis I diagnosis of bipolar disorder or psychotic disorder 6. Previous treatment of CBT for PG (duration of at least 6 sessions); because CBT is not widely used for PG, a minimum of 6 treatments will be rare. 7. Current use of psychotropic medications or within 2 months prior to study entry. 8. Current participation in Gambler's Anonymous (GA).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| PG-YBOCS | At each visit prior to and after therapy has been completed |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Time spent gambling | At each visit prior to and after therapy has been completed |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed