Depression and Early Treatment Dropout among Individuals with Gambling Disorder
Session Title
Session 1-1-A: Treatment Stories
Presentation Type
Event
Location
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Start Date
28-5-2019 9:15 AM
End Date
28-5-2019 10:40 AM
Disciplines
Clinical Psychology
Abstract
Abstract
Estimates of dropout from psychological treatments for gambling disorder (GD) range from 14% to 58%, with dropout occurring most frequently in the early stages of treatment. The wide range in dropout rates may be due in part to different definitions of dropout used in the literature and variation in the timeframes for dropout used across studies. In this paper I report dropout rates across the first seven sessions of State-funded, outpatient GD treatment using a definition of dropout from recent literature that is based on a measure of clinically significant reduction in depression scores at last treatment visit, as assessed using the PHQ-9. In addition to these data, I report on gambling behavior and urges to gamble among those who either complete the first seven session of treatment, or report clinically significant reductions in depression at their last visit as compared to those who leave treatment without reductions in depression.
Implications
This paper adds to the literature by examining the utility of a relatively recent definition of GD treatment dropout. Specifically, the paper looks at whether reductions in depression alone can identify those who stop gambling and/or experience lower urges to gamble after exposure to outpatient treatment. In so doing, it is an effort to contribute to the ongoing and necessary discussions about how best to measure dropout from GD treatment.
Keywords
Treatment Dropout, Depression, Gambling Disorder, Gambling Behavior, Urges to Gamble
Funding Sources
The work submitted here was supported entirely by funding from the State of California, Department of Public Health, Office of Problem Gambling under a contract supporting work on the California Gambling Education and Treatment System (CalGETS). The funders of this research had no involvement with it, other than providing access to the CalGETS database.
Competing Interests
No competing interests exist.
Depression and Early Treatment Dropout among Individuals with Gambling Disorder
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Abstract
Estimates of dropout from psychological treatments for gambling disorder (GD) range from 14% to 58%, with dropout occurring most frequently in the early stages of treatment. The wide range in dropout rates may be due in part to different definitions of dropout used in the literature and variation in the timeframes for dropout used across studies. In this paper I report dropout rates across the first seven sessions of State-funded, outpatient GD treatment using a definition of dropout from recent literature that is based on a measure of clinically significant reduction in depression scores at last treatment visit, as assessed using the PHQ-9. In addition to these data, I report on gambling behavior and urges to gamble among those who either complete the first seven session of treatment, or report clinically significant reductions in depression at their last visit as compared to those who leave treatment without reductions in depression.
Implications
This paper adds to the literature by examining the utility of a relatively recent definition of GD treatment dropout. Specifically, the paper looks at whether reductions in depression alone can identify those who stop gambling and/or experience lower urges to gamble after exposure to outpatient treatment. In so doing, it is an effort to contribute to the ongoing and necessary discussions about how best to measure dropout from GD treatment.