Pathological Gambling clinical trials

Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT) for Problem Gambling

Nova Scotia is experiencing a proliferation of gambling opportunities and their related gambling problems. The 2003 Nova Scotia Prevalence Study (2004) found that approximately 50,000 adult Nova Scotians are at some risk for problem gambling and that approximately 93,000 adult Nova Scotians are intimately connected to at least one person who has a gambling problem. The serious consequences of problem gambling are being felt by the Individuals engaging in Problem Gambling (IPGs), their Concerned Significant Others (CSOs) and their Communities. Very few IPGs access support services for their gambling problems. Some reports (National Gambling Impact Study Commission 1999) have found that only 3% of IPGs seek treatment. The Nova Scotia Gambling Prevalence Study (2004) states: "Overall, 3.5% (26,000 adults) have been motivated to help someone else with a current gambling problem versus 0.5% (3,700 adults) seeking assistance or information for a personal problem". While the CSOs of IPGs are seven times more likely to access professional addiction treatment the options for these individuals are limited and treatment programs often lack evidence in support of their effectiveness. The Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) (Meyers & Wolfe 2004) approach provides significant benefits to the CSOs of persons abusing alcohol and other drugs. They benefits include: improvement in the quality of life of the CSOs; increasing the rate of substance abusers entering treatment; and decreased substance use. CRAFT empowers CSOs by providing tools to positively influence theirs and their significant other's behavior. The current study investigates the applicability and effectiveness of the CRAFT approach to the CSOs of IPGS. It is predicted that benefits to the CSOs receiving CRAFT will significantly surpass those receiving treatment as usual. The predicted benefits are: improvement in quality of life for the CSO; engagement of IPGs in treatment; and decreased gambling by the IPGs. With these achieved outcomes, this research will provide opportunity for earlier intervention, improved individual and family functioning and a reduction of the negative impact of problem gambling on the community.