Clinical Trial: Online Coping Skills Counseling for Problem Gambling and Trauma

Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: Online Coping Skills Counseling for Problem Gambling and Trauma

Brief Summary: This randomized controlled trial examines the efficacy of two behavioral therapies. Seeking Safety, which addresses co-occurring problem gambling (PG) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being compared to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PG, which addresses only PG. Both models are delivered via telehealth.

Detailed Summary:

Our key study question is whether an integrated focus on PG and PTSD (Seeking Safety; SS) offers a useful new option for clinical care compared to a purely problem gambling approach (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PG; CBT-PG). This question—the impact of integrated versus non-integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders—is one of the key issues in the field currently and has never been studied in relation to PG and PTSD.

Our aims are:

  1. To conduct an RCT of SS versus CBT-PG in a sample of 84 people with current PG and PTSD (full or subthreshold).
  2. To evaluate outcomes from baseline to end of treatment and 12 month followup on two primary variables (money lost gambling and number of gambling sessions) and several secondary variables.

Our hypotheses are: (a) SS will do no worse than CBT-PG on the primary PG outcomes as both treatments are designed to address addiction; i.e., both will show improvement from baseline to end of treatment and maintenance of gains through the followup. (b) SS will show superior results on trauma symptoms as SS is designed to address those, whereas CBT-PG is not.


Sponsor: University of Windsor

Current Primary Outcome:

  • Money spent gambling [ Time Frame: 6-weeks (mid-treatment), 12-weeks (end-of-treatment), and 12-months ]
    Change from baseline in amount of money spent gambling in the past month
  • Number of gambling sessions [ Time Frame: 6-weeks (mid-treatment), 12-weeks (end-of-treatment), and 12-months ]
    Change from baseline in number of days in the past month during which gambling occurred


Original Primary Outcome: Same as current

Current Secondary Outcome:

  • PTSD Checklist (PCL) scores [ Time Frame: 6-weeks (mid-treatment), 12-weeks (end-of-treatment), and 12-months ]
    Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms
  • Trauma Symptom Checklist 40 [ Time Frame: 6-weeks (mid-treatment), 12-weeks (end-of-treatment), and 12-months ]
    Change in baseline in broad trauma-related symptoms
  • Brief Symptom Inventory-18 scores [ Time Frame: 6-weeks (mid-treatment), 12-weeks (end-of-treatment), and 12-months ]
    Change from baseline in general psychiatric symptoms
  • Brief Addiction Monitor scores [ Time Frame: 6-weeks (mid-treatment), 12-weeks (end-of-treatment), and 12-months ]
    Change from baseline in substance use and associated problems


Original Secondary Outcome: Same as current

Information By: University of Windsor

Dates:
Date Received: April 25, 2017
Date Started: October 1, 2016
Date Completion: January 2019
Last Updated: May 4, 2017
Last Verified: May 2017