Psychological treatments for gambling disorder

Figures & data

Table 1 Summary of study characteristics

Study	Population	Comparison groups	N	Therapy mode	Treatment duration (weeks)	Number of sessions	Session duration (minutes)
Carlbring 2008^Citation17	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	32	–	–	–	–
		2. Self-directed CBT	34	Internet/phone	8	8	15
Carlbring 2010^Citation25	Current gambling problems or pathological gambling	1. Wait-list control	46	–	–	–	–
		2. MI	54	Individual	8	4	50
		3. CBT	50	Group	8	8	180
Cunningham 2009^Citation36	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	25	–	–	–	–
		2. Personalized feedback	24	Individual	1	1	10–20
Cunningham 2012^Citation16	Problem and pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	69	–	–	–	–
		2. Full feedback	70	Mail	–	–	–
		3. Partial feedback	70	Mail	–	–	–
Echebúrua 1996^Citation27	Pathological gamblers (slot machine)	1. Wait-list control	16	–	–	–	–
		1. Stimulus control + ERP	16	Individual	6	6	65
		2. Cognitive restructuring	16	Group	6	6	60
		3. Combined	16	Individual + group	6	12	63
Echebúrua 2000^Citation29	Pathological gamblers (slot machine)	1. No treatment control	23	–	–	–	–
		2. Relapse prevention	23	Individual	Undef	Undef	Undef
		3. Relapse prevention	23	Group	Undef	Undef	120
Diskin 2009^Citation37	≥ moderate risk gamblers	1. Control interview	39	–	–	–	–
		2. MI	42	Individual	1	1	76
Dowling 2007^Citation28	Pathological gamblers (female; electronic gaming machine)	1. Wait-list control	25	–	–	–	–
		2. CBT + ID	14	Individual	12–51	12	90
		3. CBT + ID	17	Group	12	12	120
Grant 2009^Citation22	Pathological gamblers	1. GA referral	35	Peer support	8	–	–
		2. MI + CBT + ID	33	Individual	8	6	60
Hodgins 2001^Citation19	Perception of a gambling problem	1. Wait-list control	35	–	–	–	–
		2. Workbook	35	Mail	–	–	–
		3. Workbook + MI	32	Mail/phone	1	1	20–45
Hodgins 2009^Citation18	Problem and pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	65	–	–	–	–
		2. Workbook only	82	Mail	–	–	–
		3. Workbook + MI	83	Mail/phone	1	1	MI =34
		4. Workbook + MI + support	84	Mail/phone	36	7	MI =34
Jimenez-Murcia 2012^Citation26	Pathological gamblers (slot machine)	1. CBT	313	Group	16	16	90
		2. CBT + ERP	189	Group	16	16	90
Labrie 2012^Citation21	Concerned about gambling	1. Wait-list control	102	–	–	–	–
		2. Toolkit	108	Mail	–	–	–
		3. Toolkit + support	105	Mail/phone	1	1	5
Ladoucer 2001^Citation32	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	29	–	–	–	–
		2. Cognitive therapy	59	Individual	20 max	20 max	60
Ladoucer 2003^Citation33	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	25	–	–	–	–
		2. Cognitive therapy	46	Group	10	10	120
Larimer 2011^Citation24	At-risk and probable pathological gamblers (college students)	1. Assessment-only control	51	–	–	–	–
		2. Personalized feedback	52	Individual	1	1	60–90
		3. CBT	44	Group	4–6	4–6	60
Marceaux 2011^Citation14	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	9	–	–	–	–
		2. TSF	11	Group	8	16	90
		3. CBT	18	Group	8	16	90
Oei 2010^Citation40	Problem gamblers	1. Wait-list control	28	–	–	–	–
		2. CBT	Undef	Individual	6	6	120
		3. CBT	Undef	Group	6	6	150
Petry 2006^Citation13	Pathological gamblers	1. GA referral	63	Peer support	–	–	–
		2. GA + CBT workbook	84	Individual/self-guided	8	8	–
		3. GA + CBT	84	Individual	8	8	50
Petry 2008^Citation38	Problem and pathological gamblers	1. Assessment-only control	48	–	–	–	–
		2. Brief advice + feedback	37	Individual	1	1	10–15
		3. MET	55	Individual	1	1	50
		4. MET + CBT	40	Individual	4	4	50
Petry 2009^Citation39	Problem and pathological gamblers (college students)	1. Assessment-only control	34	–	–	–	–
		2. Brief advice + feedback	32	Individual	1	1	10–15
		3. MET	30	Individual	1	1	50
		4. MET + CBT	21	Individual	4	4	50
Sylvain 1997^Citation31	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	18	–	–	–	–
		2. Cognitive therapy	22	Individual	Undef	≤30 H total	60–90
Toneatto 2008^Citation15	Self-report of gambling problem and interest in treatment	1. TSF	61	Group	8	8	Undef
		2. CBT	65	Group	8	8	Undef
Toneatto 2009^Citation34	At risk, problem, and pathological gamblers	1. Personalized feedback	28	Individual	1	1	90
		2. Cognitive therapy	25	Individual	8–10	6	Undef
		3. Behavior therapy	24	Individual	8–10	6	Undef
		4. Motivational therapy	22	Individual	8–10	6	Undef
Toneatto 2014^Citation30	Pathological gamblers	1. Wait-list control	9	–	–	–	–
		2. Mindfulness CBT	9	Group	7	5	90

Abbreviations: CBT, cognitive–behavioral therapy; ERP, exposure with response prevention; GA, Gamblers Anonymous; H, hours; ID, imaginal desensitization; max, maximum; MET, motivational enhancement therapy; MI, motivational interviewing; TSF, twelve-step facilitation; Undef, undefined or not specified.

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