Tratamiento del juego patológico: un estudio controlado

Abstract

This paper discusses the efficacy of a cognitive and behavioral treatment for pathological gambling. Pathological gamblers were randomly assigned to treamlent or wait-list control. The treatment included four components: 1) Cognitive correction of erroneous perceptions about gambling, 2) problem solving training, 3) Social-skills training and 4) relapse prevention. The dependent variables were the South Oaks Gambling Screen, perception of control, frequency of gambling, perceived self-efficacy, desire to gamble, and number of DSM-111-R criteria met by participants. Results indicated highly significant changes in the treatment group on all outcome measures and analysis of data from six and twelve month follow-ups revealed maintenance of the rapeutic gains. It is recommended that cognitive and behavioral therapy include cognitive correction of erroneous perceptions in gambling.