Patterns of substance use in treatment‐seeking problem gamblers: Impact on treatment outcomes

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that treatment-seeking problem gamblers have high rates of substance abuse. However, relatively little is known about the relation between gambling problems and specific psychoactive substances apart from alcohol and methadone-treated opiate addicts. In this study of 169 individuals seeking outpatient treatment for problem gambling, lifetime drug use and medication use were very high. Approximately half of the sample were using a psychiatric medication at the time they sought gambling treatment while very few individuals were using other drugs. Gambling treatment outcomes were unrelated to history of drug or medication use. No evidence was found for substitution of psychoactive substance use for gambling during the follow-up year. These findings indicate that gamblers are more likely to be involved with drug and medication use compared to the general population, but that such histories are not associated with gambling treatment outcomes.

Clinical Profile and Psychiatric Comorbidity of Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Pathological Gambling in South-Africa

“…This was low in comparison to Toneatto et al's study in Canada, where the incidence was 10.1 % and to Abait's study in Argentina, where the incidence was 12.6 % (Toneatto et al 2002;Abait and Folino 2007). The result was, however, in keeping with a recent Spanish study by Echeburua et al (2013) where they found that alcohol abuse was not higher among pathological gamblers when compared to non-gamblers.…”

“…A positive association was also detected between a history of psychiatric disorders and current comorbidity with substance-use disorders, as well as between alcohol abuse and age. Toneatto et al (2002) studied a group of 169 Canadian Gamblers and reported that 10.1 % were using drugs the month before treatment. A considerable number of these gamblers had sought treatment for their alcohol and drug use before seeking treatment for gambling problems.…”

Drinkers and bettors: Investigating the complementarity of alcohol consumption and problem gambling

“…The literature suggests that higher rates of alcohol use are present among pathological gamblers as compared to the general population (Cunningham-Williams et al, 1998;Maccallum and Blaszczynski, 2002;Toneatto et al, 2002), problem gambling is more common among individuals with alcohol use disorders as compared to those without such disorders (Grant et al, 2002), alcohol use is a risk factor for pathological gambling (Welte et al, 2004b), and gambling and excessive alcohol consumption are co-occurring activities (Elia and Jacobs, 1993).…”

The Evidence Base Supporting the Subtyping of Gamblers in Treatment

“…Four studies assessed substance use disorders, mostly alcohol (Toneatto et al, 2002;Stinchfield, Kushner, & Winters, 2005;Hodgins, Peden, & Cassidy, 2005;Echeburua et al, 1996). Two studies (Leblond, Ladouceur, & Blaszczynski, 2003;Echeburua et al, 1996) assessed a personality variable and found an effect on treatment.…”

“…The studies include Canada (Toneatto, Skinner, & Dragonetti, 2002), Australia (Blaszczynski & Steel, 1998;Maccallum & Blaszczynski, 2002), Brazil (de Carvalho, Collakis, de Oliveira, & da Silveira, 2005, Israel (Dannon et al, 2004), Germany (Knecht, 1993), France (Lejoyeux, Feuche, Loi, Solomon, & Ades, 1999), Lithuania (Skokauskas, Satkeviciute, & Burba, 2003), and Spain (Ibanez et al, 2001).…”