Evaluation of patients treated for pathological gambling in a combined alcohol, substance abuse and pathological gambling treatment unit using the Addiction Severity Index

Abstract

Seventy-two pathological gambling patients were followed-up after treatment in a combined alcohol, substance abuse and compulsive gambling treatment program. The Addiction Severity Index (modified for use with pathological gamblers) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. Patients reduced their intake of alcohol, other drugs and their gambling as well as improved in legal, family/social, and psychological functioning. There was a trend for improvement in medical condition and no net change in employment functioning. The study supports the idea that combined treatment is an effective way of dealing with patients whose gambling problems are discovered when they enter treatment for another addiction, as well as for patients whose initial complaints include pathological gambling, with or without additional problems.

A randomized trial of brief interventions for problem and pathological gamblers.

“…Psychometric properties are established in substance abusers (McLellan et al, 1988), general medical patients (Weisner, McLellan, & Hunkeler, 2000) and pathological gamblers (Petry, 2003b;Petry, 2007). The ASI has been adapted to include a gambling section that includes questions about dollars wagered (net expenditures) and days gambled in the past month; scoring methods are similar to ASI-drug scales (Lesieur & Blume, 1991;Petry 2003b). The ASI-Gambling (ASI-G) section has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and validity in assessing gambling problems and changes over time (Lesieur & Blume, 1991;Petry, 2003b;Petry, 2007).…”

“…The ASI has been adapted to include a gambling section that includes questions about dollars wagered (net expenditures) and days gambled in the past month; scoring methods are similar to ASI-drug scales (Lesieur & Blume, 1991;Petry 2003b). The ASI-Gambling (ASI-G) section has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and validity in assessing gambling problems and changes over time (Lesieur & Blume, 1991;Petry, 2003b;Petry, 2007). In 176 treatmentseeking gamblers , dollars wagered in the past month as determined by the ASI were highly correlated with collateral reports of amounts gambled (r =.68, p<.001).…”

Estudio descriptivo sobre el juego patológico en estudiantes (8-17 años): Características sociodemográficas, consumo de drogas y depresión

“…Hay que decir, que no es de extrañar que las tasas de juego en población menor de edad sean mucho más altas que las informadas en grupos de adultos; ya que viene siendo norma en muchos trabajos que las tasas de los adultos puedan incluso multiplicarse por cinco si el grupo estudiado está formado por jóvenes adolescentes (Lesieur, Blume, 1991;Ladoucer, Mireault, 1988, Fisher, 1992, Fisher, 1993, Westphal, Rush, Stevens, Johnson, 2000. Revisando los datos informados sobre grupos de menores vemos que los varones juegan más que las mujeres (Arbinaga, 1996;Becoña, Gestal, 1996;Villa, Becoña, Vázquez, 1997).…”

“…Los porcentajes aumentaban cuando se consideraban según los grados o cursos en los que se recogía la información, llegándose al 11% en el grado 11º y al 19,9% en los grados 7º y 8º. Sin embargo, era de esperar que fueran mucho más altas las tasas en este grupo que en el de los adultos, ya que teniendo en cuenta las revisiones existentes en la literatura se nos indica que las tasas de los adultos pueden incluso multiplicarse por cinco en el caso de que estemos estudiando a jóve-nes adolescentes (Lesieur, Blume, 1991;Ladoucer, Mireault, 1988, Fisher, 1992, Fisher, 1993, Westphal, Rush, Stevens, Johnson, 2000.…”

Social Support is Associated with Gambling Treatment Outcomes in Pathological Gamblers

“…The ASI has been adapted to include a Gambling section, which includes questions and scoring methods similar to ASI-drug scale scores, and contains items related to days and dollars gambled in the past month as well as perceived gambling problems (22)(23). The ASI-gambling section has adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity in assessing gambling problems and changes in gambling over time (22)(23)(24) and was the primary outcome measure in the main trial (23).…”