Recovery capital (RC) is an emerging conceptual framework in the addiction field that pinpoints the internal and external (i.e., human, community, cultural, social, financial) resources individuals can draw on throughout the recovery process. The concept of RC was developed and applied primarily to individuals who have recovered from substance addiction. The aim of this study was to extend the RC conceptual framework to gambling disorder (GD)-which is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as a behavioral addiction-and to identify and conceptualize RC resources implemented by individuals who have recovered from GD. Ninety-one individuals who reported a lifetime history of DSM-5 GD but who had not exceeded the DSM-5 GD threshold criteria in the previous year, were interviewed about the factors that helped them throughout their recovery. Directed content analyses identified 12 main RC resources that were classified under 4 RC domains: human capital (subjective well-being, self-efficacy, self-control skills, proactive coping skills, socioemotional skills, reconstruction skills), community capital (prorecovery environment, professional therapeutic milieu), social capital (recovering gamblers' peer group, friends without a GD, family), and financial capital (prorecovery financial state). These findings are the first step toward formulating a comprehensive conceptual model of RC applicable to GD. This study extends the RC and the gambling literature by presenting a holistic view of recovery from GD in many facets of life, and underscores the importance of observing strengths and resources in treating people with GD. Public Policy Relevance StatementGambling disorder (GD) is a behavioral addiction. Recovery capital (RC) is a conceptual framework that encompasses the internal and external resources implemented throughout the recovery process. The findings highlight the importance of possessing various RC resources in the GD recovery process, and call upon policymakers to implement a holistic intervention perspective and develop services that provide broad responses to support recovery from GD at the individual, community, social, and financial levels.

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Background and aims Recovery is a challenge for individuals coping with a gambling disorder (GD). Recovery capital (RC) is a conceptual framework describing positive external and internal (e.g., human, social, community and financial) resources that promote recovery. Negative RC relates to external and internal obstacles to recovery. To date, no scale has captured both positive and negative RC items in the gambling field. Based on the RC framework, this pilot study aimed to develop The Holistic Recovery Capital in Gambling Disorder (HRC-GD) instrument, and to explore its associations with recovery status, measures of psychopathology and happiness. We hypothesized that higher HRC-GD scores will be positively related to recovery and subjective happiness, but negatively linked to depression, anxiety, and gambling severity. Method Recovered and non-recovered individuals with a lifetime DSM-5 GD (n = 164) completed the HRC-GD instrument, the DSM-5 GD diagnostic criteria, and measures of depression, anxiety, and subjective happiness. Results Through a process of item reduction, which included a principal components analysis, 19 items were retained. Since exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded uninterpretable findings, an index score reflecting human, financial, community, and social resources and obstacles was calculated. HRC-GD index scores were negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, and GD symptom severity, but positively related with subjective happiness. Index scores were significantly associated with recovery status. Conclusions The HRC-GD index holds promise as a new tool for measuring RC in GD. Additional research is needed to validate this index using larger and more ethnically and gender diverse clinical and community samples of individuals with GD.