The Efficacy of Psychosocial Interventions in Minimising the Harm Caused to Affected Others of Problem Gambling: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Problem gambling not only impacts gamblers but also protrudes onto several affected others who experience adverse impacts, including financial, health, relationships, and psychological problems. The aims of this systematic review were twofold; to identify the psychosocial interventions to minimise the harm caused to affected others of problem gambling and to assess their efficacy. This study was conducted as outlined in the research protocol PROSPERO (CRD42021239138). Database searches were conducted in CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Social Science Database, CINHAL Complete, Academic Search Ultimate and PsycINFO. Randomised controlled trials of psychosocial interventions that aimed to minimise the harm caused to affected others of problem gambling written in English were eligible for inclusion. Risk of bias for included studies was assessed using the Cochrane ROB 2.0 tool. The identified interventions focused on two approaches to supporting affected others: interventions involving both the problem gambler and affected others, and interventions involving affected others only. As the interventions and outcome measures used were sufficiently similar, a meta-analysis was conducted. The quantitative synthesis revealed that generally, treatment groups were unable to show greater benefits over control groups. The goal for future interventions aimed at affected others of problem gambling should focus primarily on the wellbeing of affected others. The standardisation of outcome measures and data collection time points for better comparison of future research is needed.