Despite evidence of high rates of concurrent substance use and anger problems among problem gamblers, until recently there have been no empirically evaluated treatments for these co-morbid problems. A recent study (Korman, Collins, McMain, & Skinner, 2005) found that an emotion and behaviour regulation treatment (EBRT) was more effective than a gambling-only treatment-as-usual in engaging clients in treatment and in reducing gambling, anger, and substance use. This study is a replication of Korman et al’s study and will compare an emotion and behaviour regulation treatment (EBRT) for problem gambling, anger and substance use to a manualized cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) for problem gambling.
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Treatment Retention
- The Working Alliance Inventory – Client version (WAI-C)
- Canadian Problem Gambling Inventory(CPGI)
- State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II(STAXI-II)
- Addiction Severity Index: Drug and Alcohol Use section
- Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID; APA, 1994), substance use section
80 participants will be randomly assigned to either an emotion and behaviour regulation treatment (EBRT) or to a cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT). Randomization will be stratified by the presence of substance dependence disorder. Both treatment conditions will consist of 12 one-hour weekly outpatient individual sessions. Participants will be assessed at baseline, end of treatment, and 3-months, 6-months and 12-months follow-up.
Purpose
