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

Summary

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.

Conditions

• Pathological Gambling

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

CRAFT treatment

Clients will receive 12 sessions of CRAFT delivered over a 12 week period. There will be 1 session per week.

BEHAVIORAL

Treatment as Usual

Clients will receive Treatment as Usual delivered over 12 session. There will be 1 session per week.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Pictou County Health Authority

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Calgary

  collaborator OTHER

• Dalhousie University

  collaborator OTHER

• Colchester East Hants Health Authority

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Greg Purvis, MSc · Pictou County Health Authority

• David Hodgins, PhD · University of Calgary

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-06-03

Primary Completion

2012-04-15

Completion

2012-04-15

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations