Treatment of female pathological gambling: the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioural approach.

Full Abstract

Given that a substantial proportion of current pathological gamblers are female, it is evident that women are underrepresented in the treatment outcome literature. The current study was designed to redress the limited information on the treatment of female pathological gambling. Although the use of cognitive-behavioural therapy is the most highly recommended approach as 'best practice' for the treatment of pathological gambling, no attempt to date has been made to evaluate the efficacy of this approach for female pathological gambling. Nineteen female pathological gamblers with electronic gaming machine problems were treated with a cognitive-behavioural program. While pathological gamblers placed on a waiting list did not show significant improvement on gambling behaviour and psychological functioning measures, the female pathological gamblers showed significant improvement on these measures over the treatment period, and maintained this improvement at the 6-month follow-up evaluation. By the completion of the follow-up period, 89% of participants no longer met diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling. Although further scientific demonstration and replication are required, the outcomes of this study indicate that the therapy that is considered 'best practice' in the treatment of pathological gambling is effective for female pathological gambling.

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Author information

Author/s: Dowling, Nicki (N); Smith, David (D); Thomas, Trang (T);

Affiliation: School of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Building 17, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia. nicki.dowling(-atsign-)med.monash.edu.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of gambling studies / co-sponsored by the National Council on Problem Gambling and Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming (J Gambl Stud), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 22 (issue 4) : pp 355-72

Dates: Created 2006/11/10; Completed 2007/11/01;

PMID: 16924426, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Aged
Behavior, Addictive - therapy
Cognitive Therapy - methods
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Gambling - psychology
Humans

Humans
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Psychological Tests
Psychotherapy, Group - methods
Recurrence - prevention & control
Treatment Outcome
Women's Health

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