Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treatment of Pathological Gambling

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study will determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of three different treatment strategies in reducing gambling behaviors.

Detailed Description
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The number of pathological gamblers in the United States is steadily growing, leading to significant financial, psychological, and public health consequences. However, studies examining the effectiveness of treatment interventions for pathological gamblers are limited. This study will compare the effectiveness of three different treatment strategies, including referral to Gambler's Anonymous (GA), a self-help manual, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), in reducing gambling behaviors and other problems related to pathological gambling. This study will last 8 weeks. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three interventions. Group 1 participants will be referred to GA and 8 weeks of CBT, which focuses on teaching skills to help reduce gambling urges and develop alternative behaviors to gambling. Group 2 participants will be referred to GA and given an 8-week self-help manual. Group 3 participants will be referred to GA alone. Questionnaires will be used to assess participants' gambling behavior and any personal, legal, or health problems they may be experiencing. The questionnaires will be completed at study entry, study completion, and at 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. Participants will be asked to identify at least one person who knows about their gambling problem and will have regular contact with them during the study and for at least 1 year This person will be interviewed at the beginning of the study, and at Months 2, 6 and 12. Researchers will ask contact persons about participants' gambling behaviors, personal relationships, legal problems, use of health care and mental health services, and how the participant can be contacted if he or she moves. For information on related studies, please follow these links: http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00118391 http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00618462

Official Title
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Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Pathological Gambling

Conditions
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Gambling

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Referral to Gamblers Anonymous
* Behavioral: Cognitive behavioral therapy
* Behavioral: Cognitive behavioral self-help manual


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Diagnosis of pathological gambling 3 or more gambling episodes within 60 days prior to study entry Exclusion Criteria: Inability to read English at the 5th grade level Uncontrolled psychiatric condition

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Behavioral: Referral to Gamblers Anonymous|nan|
|Behavioral: Cognitive behavioral therapy|nan|
|Behavioral: Cognitive behavioral self-help manual|nan|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Addiction Severity Index (ASI) gambling severity scores |  |  | 
| time spent gambling |  |  | 
| days of non-gambling |  |  | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Psychiatric symptoms |  |  | 
| psychosocial functioning |  |  | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Pathological gambling, Gambler's anonymous, Cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT