Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Gambling

NCT ID: NCT00118391

Last Updated: 2013-07-01

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE1
• Total Enrollment: 120 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2002-11-30
• Study Completion Date: 2005-10-31

Brief Summary

This study will determine the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and contingency management (CM) in reducing gambling behaviors and other related problems in pathological gambling.

Study hypothesis: Participants who receive CBT and CM will attend more treatment sessions and show better outcomes than those who receive CBT alone.

Detailed Description

Pathological gambling has become an increasingly problematic condition in the United States, often causing serious financial, psychological, and public health consequences. In an effort to treat this growing problem, researchers have evaluated numerous therapies; one such therapy is CBT. CBT has been shown to improve pathological gambling outcomes. However, evidence suggests that adding CM to CBT could result in even more improved outcomes. This study will compare the effectiveness of CBT and CM with that of CBT alone in reducing pathological gambling.

This study will last 12 months. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either CBT and CM or CBT alone for 8 weeks. CBT will focus on reducing gambling urges and helping patients develop alternative behaviors to gambling. CM will focus on encouraging patients to avoid gambling. Participants in the CBT and CM group will receive voucher incentives for completing homework assignments and engaging in non-gambling social activities. The vouchers will allow participants to take part in non-gambling activities of their choice. Changes in gambling activities and problems will be assessed with self-report scales and interviews at study start and at Weeks 10, 24, and 52.

Participants will be asked to identify at least one person who knows about their gambling and will have regular contact with them over the 12 months of the study. This person will be interviewed at study start and at Months 2, 6, and 12. Contact persons will be asked 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/NCT00158314

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00618462

Conditions

Gambling; Mental Health

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Interventions

Cognitive behavior therapy

Receive 8 50-minute sessions of one-on-one cognitive behavioral therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Contingency management

Receive vouchers that can be spent on rewards for completing activities that support abstinence from gambling

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Diagnosis of pathological gambling
• At least 1 gambling episode within 30 days prior to study entry
• Able to read English at a 5th grade level
• Willing and able to comply with all study requirements

Exclusion Criteria

• Uncontrolled psychiatric conditions

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

UConn Health

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

University of Connecticut Health Center

Principal Investigators

Nancy M. Petry, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

UConn Health

Locations

University of Connecticut Health Center

Farmington, Connecticut, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

R01MH060417-02

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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R01MH060417-02

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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