The Context of Gambling Treatment: Towards Creating an Online Service to Reduce Problem Gambling - Part Five

NCT05084885 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: 074-2018
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 16
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This application involves a multi-stage study with the ultimate goal of developing an online treatment service for problem gamblers. We will recruit up to 100 problem gamblers, and offer problem gambling treatment services to them entirely over the internet. The program will be evaluated based on uptake, experience of the participants, and pre-test vs post-test differences in gambling and well-being.

Conditions

Problem Gambling

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Changes in Gambling Frequency as Measured by Self Reported Frequency on 12 Different Types of Gambling.

  Level of gambling frequency was measured using self reported frequency on a 7 point scale on 12 types of gambling. We used the maximum frequency across the twelve types of gambling so that if they reported participating in 5 types of gambling ranging from once per year (score of 1) to everyday (score of 7), we would score the person as 7. This way the measure was sensitive to changes in the most problematic frequent form of gambling for that person. Lower levels of gambling frequency after 12 months would be a positive outcome. To score frequency we computed each person's highest frequency for a range from 0 (none) to 7 (everyday) with higher numbers indicating more frequent gambling. The same was done for their post-test scores. We computed the difference score of post-test from pre-test which could range from 7 to -7 with negative numbers indicating improvement (reduced gambling participation).

  Change from baseline to 3 months

• Changes in Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI; Ferris & Wynne, 2001).

  Gambling problems are measured using PGSI (Ferris \& Wynne, 2001). Each of the 9 item is measured on a 4 point scale from never (0) to almost always (3). The total ranges from 0 to 27. Higher scores indicate more gambling problems; Lower scores at followup would be a positive outcome. Total scores form 3 to 7 indicate moderate gambling problems; scores 7 or higher indicate severe gambling problems. In this study we subtracted pre-test scores from post test scores to compute a change score which would range from27 to -27 with higher number indicating a worse outcome and negative numbers indicating a positive outcome.

  Change from baseline to 3 months

• Changes in Kessler-6 (K6; Galea, et al., 2007).

  The Kessler-6 measures psychological distress (K6; Galea, et al., 2007). Higher scores indicate more psychological distress. Score 0 to 25 with scores over 8 indicating moderate psychological distress. We are predicting lower levels of psychological distress at 3 follow-up as measured using the Kessler-6 (K6; Galea, et al., 2007). For the evaluation we computed the difference of post-test from pre-test with a range from 25 to -25 with negative numbers indicating an improvement.

  Change from baseline to 3 months

• Changes in Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003).

  Mindfulness was measured using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown \& Ryan, 2003). Range 1 to 6 based on average score per item; higher scores mean greater mindfulness. For the evaluation we computed the difference of the post-test and the pre-test for a range from 6 to -6 with positive numbers indicating an improvement in mindfulness.

  Change from baseline to 3 months

• Changes in Number of Games Played

  Number of games played was measured using a self report measure of participation in 12 games (see frequently above). Fewer games played would be a positive outcome. Possible range is from 0 to 12. We computed the difference score from pre-test to post-test which could range from 12 to -12 with negative numbers indicating improvement (reduced gambling participation).

  Change from baseline to 3 months

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Changes in Gambling Frequency as Measured by Self Reported Frequency on 12 Different Types of Gambling

  Change from baseline to 12 months followup

• Changes in Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI; Ferris & Wynne, 2001).

  Change from baseline to 12 months followup

• Changes in Kessler-6 (K6; Galea, et al., 2007).

  Change from baseline to 12 months followup

• Changes in Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003).

  Change from baseline to 12 months followup

• Changes in Number of Games Played

  Change from baseline to 12 months followup

Other Outcomes (10)

• Changes in Quality of lifeInventory (QLI) (Heun, et al., 2001)

  Change from baseline to 3 months

• Changes in Quality of lifeInventory (QLI) (Heun, et al., 2001)

  Change from baseline to 12 months followup

• Changes in Perceived Social Support (PSS) (Zimet et al., 1988)

  Change from baseline to 3 months

Study Arms (2)

Online treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

The participants will receive counseling over the internet.

Other: Online therapy

Non-treatment

NO INTERVENTION

Participants who did not participant in the group were asked to complete the 12ve month followup questionnaire (but not the post treatment questionnaire).

Interventions

Online therapy OTHER

Standard counseling provided over the internet.

Online treatment

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• problem gamblers seeking treatment who are 18 years and older must be willing to have therapy conducted online must have access to a computer and Internet be able to communicate in English.

You may not qualify if:

• not able to communicate in English, has current suicidal ideation, acute psychotic symptoms, current involvement in other gambling treatment, has severe substance abuse problem or complex mental health problems (as assessed by screening tools)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: lead
• Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada

Location

Limitations and Caveats

The main limitations of the current study is the small sample size and the absence of a randomly assigned control group. Due to the small sample size we examined the data in terms of two individual cases, rather than as a group.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Nigel Turner
• Organization: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

nigel.turner@camh.ca

416-535-8501

Study Officials

• Nigel E Turner, Ph.D

  Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The study will be evaluated using a pre-test vs. post-test design.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 14, 2019
• First Posted: October 20, 2021
• Study Start: March 1, 2019
• Primary Completion: August 9, 2019
• Study Completion: August 30, 2020
• Last Updated: March 7, 2023
• Results First Posted: August 1, 2022

Record last verified: 2023-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)