Psychological intervention for gambling disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Neuroimaging cue-reactivity studies indicate that when gambling cues are present, the motivational system of the brain is overactive in PG and PrG, as evidenced in higher parahippocampal, amygdala, basal ganglia, and OFC activation. Finally, the interaction of cue-reactivity and cognitive control suggests that the activation of the cognitive control system in problem gamblers may be enhanced by activating the motivational circuit. However, this finding is in need of replication, and the role of DA in facilitating or diminishing cognitive control in PG deserves further study. It is the first non-substance-use behavior formally recognized as a possible addiction by the American Psychiatric Association in DSM-5 in 2013 and is similarly discussed by the World Health Organization in ICD-11. For gambling-related problems, very serious negative consequences, especially in social, psychological, and financial domains, are common. The impact of gambling disorder extends beyond those with the disorder as family, friends, employers, and others are affected.

• This research contributes to the academic understanding of problem gambling and offers practical solutions for responsible gambling initiatives.
• The initial session was identical to that provided in MET condition, and the three sessions of CBT were based on those described by Monti and colleagues (2002) and modified by Petry (2005a).
• A recent meta-analysis found that older individuals with GD were more likely to be single or divorced/separated81.
• Younger adults may also be more prone to gambling due to the evolutionary advantage of status-seeking during peak reproductive years.

Randomization to treatments

Where possible, the potential influence of delivery mode and formats were explored within each treatment modality. Effect sizes were generally small and/or not significant (Supplementary Material 1 Table S5 and S6). The Australian Human Rights Commission last year called for a ban on facial recognition technology until it is better regulated with “stronger, clearer and more targeted” human rights protections. Green at AHA NSW said a survey of self-excluded gamblers found that more than eight in 10 respondents felt using facial recognition would be effective. Critics say there is little evidence it reduces crime and that it carries an inherent risk of bias and misidentification, especially for darker-skinned people and women. Digital rights campaigners want Australia’s 1988 Privacy Act to be reformed to better address the use of facial recognition technology, and clarify when and how it can be used.

From a technical point of view, instances of error and mis-recognition are a feature of all forms of FRT. Occasional misrecognition is to be expected in gaming venues, which lack the ideal conditions for the cameras to function (high levels of illumination, head-height cameras fully-facing the customer). Thus, as one of our industry interviewees put it, such errors are to be tolerated (“you do get false positives but we’re not convicting anyone”). Yet, while reported levels of ‘false positives’ and ‘false negatives’ might remain acceptable in statistical terms, over time, they still involve a significant number of people being erroneously ‘recognised’ by these systems in real-life. Whether or not one is perturbed by not being allowed into a gaming venue probably depends on how often this inconvenience occurs – and what its consequences are. The South Australia changes arose from mounting political and public concern regarding the regulation of problem gambling.

It’s worth noting that these aggregates largely align with the observed behavioral markers used in previous studies (Deng et al., 2019). By employing these derived measures, we can effectively capture important aspects of the gambling behavior and use them to categorize and predict the behavior of interest. These arrangements had been subject to various negotiations between government officials and hotel industry groups – including discussions over whether signs should be displayed at the entrance or within each venue, where cameras should be located, and the acceptable levels of face-matching accuracy.

Participants

In addition, owing especially to the emergence of new platforms that facilitate gambling access, GD is characterized by high heterogeneity and their features are constantly changing. khelo24 Having updated prevention and treatment plans which take these factors into account and fit the clinical characteristics of each patient is a challenge that should be considered in greater depth in future research. The efficacy of this approach is validated through computational experiments, which are conducted on real data and subsequently verified by specialists in the field of gambling addiction. The results demonstrate a significant capability in successfully identifying users who exhibit early signs of potential gambling problems.

Papers published in French with an English equivalent translation were considered for the review, but none were identified. Gambling disorder is currently the only behavioral addiction (as opposed to substance addiction) included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), although «internet gaming disorder» and others are being considered for this category. Lastly, we observed a difference in treatment efficacy favoring face-to-face interventions over remotely delivered interventions. We suggest that further development of digital psychological intervention along with the replication of early studies on face-to-face psychological intervention may in fact lessen the gap that currently available data conveys.

Compared with remotely delivered interventions, face-to-face delivered interventions were more efficacious with respect to both severity and remission. Among face-to-face interventions, the format (individual vs group) did not moderate the efficacy. The number of sessions with a therapist positively predicted the treatment effect when including all studies and face-to-face interventions only, and the length of the intended treatment period positively predicted the treatment effect across all interventions and face-to-face interventions. After screening and study selection, 34 RCTs were initially included in the systematic review (PRISMA flow diagram, Fig. 1) The two authors (JWE, AF) who had independently screened the literature disagreed on three studies, which were included after negotiation with a third author (MWP).

Publication types

This research contributes to the academic understanding of problem gambling and offers practical solutions for responsible gambling initiatives. The successful demonstration of the effectiveness of unsupervised learning methods in separating players exhibiting signs of problem gambling has significant implications for the field of responsible gambling and player protection. By identifying key variables that measure the intensity of gambling, such as the number of bets placed and the frequency of betting sessions, we can easily detect the group displaying problem gambling attitudes. This separation process has proven to be robust and reliable across various observation periods, even when dealing with varying sample sizes, making it a valuable and adaptable tool for early identification of problem gambling behaviors. In summary, the identified clusters exhibit distinct behavioral patterns, with the intensive group demonstrating higher gambling frequency, risk-taking, and bet sizes, resulting in higher expected losses due to the nature of the game’s fairness. To facilitate both the labeling and predicting exercises, we have derived the following aggregates.

Participants assigned to this condition also met with a research therapist after the baseline evaluation. They received the same MET session described above and were encouraged to return for three sessions of CBT in the subsequent weeks. CBT session handouts were modified from those in Petry (2005a) to emphasize reductions in gambling, rather than abstinence, as the goal. The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.