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An Analysis of Treatment-Seeking Behavior in Individuals with Gambling Disorder

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Abstract

Gambling disorder affects approximately 1.1–3.5% of the population, with the rates being higher in young adults. Despite this high prevalence, little is known regarding which pathological gamblers decide to seek treatment. This study sought to examine the differences in three groups of pathological gamblers: those who did not seek treatment (n = 94), those who sought therapy (n = 106) and those who sought medication therapy (n = 680). All subjects were assessed on a variety of measures including demographics, family history, gambling history, comorbid psychiatric disorders and an assortment of clinical variables such as the Quality of Life Inventory, Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Rating Scales, Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Pathologic Gambling (PG-YBOCS), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Eysenck Impulsiveness Questionnaire and select cognitive tasks. Those seeking treatment were more likely to be Caucasian, have lost more money in the past year due to gambling, and were more likely to have legal and social problems as a result of their gambling. Those seeking therapy or medical treatment also scored significantly higher on the PG-YBOCS. This study suggests that pathologic gamblers seeking treatment were more likely to exhibit obsessive–compulsive tendencies likely leading to the increased legal and social problems that exist in this group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC3077, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Michael D. Harries, Sarah A. Redden & Jon E. Grant

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  1. Michael D. Harries
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  2. Sarah A. Redden
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  3. Jon E. Grant
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Correspondence to Michael D. Harries.

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Mr. Michael Harries and Ms. Sarah Redden report no conflicts of interest. Dr. Jon Grant currently has research grants from the National Center for Responsible Gaming, Brainsway, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the TLC Foundation for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors, Forest Takeda and Psyadon Pharmaceuticals. He receives yearly compensation from Springer Publishing for acting as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gambling Studies and has received royalties from Oxford University Press, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Norton Press, and McGraw Hill.

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Harries, M.D., Redden, S.A. & Grant, J.E. An Analysis of Treatment-Seeking Behavior in Individuals with Gambling Disorder. J Gambl Stud 34, 999–1012 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9730-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9730-2

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