Gamblers Anonymous

Gamblers Anonymous (GA) is a twelve-step program for people who have a gambling problem. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop gambling. This is a compulsion or addiction which may be associated with financial insecurity, dysfunctional families, legal problems, employment difficulties, psychological distress and higher rates of suicide and attempted suicide.

History

The organization began in Los Angeles on September 13, 1957. By 2005 there were over 1000 GA groups in the United States, and groups had been established in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Kenya, Uganda, Korea, Japan and many other locations throughout the world.[1]

Incidence rate and evaluation

Problem gambling is estimated to occur in 1.6% of the adult population in the United States.[2] GA has a list of twenty questions that can be used to self-diagnose compulsive gambling. The results from their instrument have correlated strongly with other tests that screen for compulsive gambling (e.g. the Total Sensation Seeking Scale, Boredom Susceptibility, Experience Seeking, South Oaks Gambling Screen, and Disinhibition subscales).[3][4]

Effectiveness

Compared to problem gamblers who do not attend GA, GA members tend to have more severe gambling problems, are older, have higher incomes, are less likely to be single, have more years of gambling problems, have larger debts, have more serious family conflicts, and less serious substance abuse problems.[2] GA may not be as effective for those who have not had significant gambling problems. GA is effective to prevent "relapses" (inability to remain abstinent from gambling), but not as effective when helping members deal with the consequences of their relapse.[5]

GA spends much of its time and energy counseling members on how to deal with financial and legal problems. GA supports "pressure relief groups" where members take each other to task and encourage them to "get honest" with people in their lives and get their affairs in order. Gamblers who are able to moderate their activity are not likely to continue attending GA meetings. GA members who stopped attending meetings were more likely to consider the sharing at the meetings "meaningless" and were more critical of GA literature. Those who felt particularly elated at their first GA meetings were less likely to continue than those who had a more balanced first impression. GA, therefore, may be most suitable for severe problem gamblers who do not have compounding issues.[6]

Criticism

Attrition

Less than 8% of those who initially attend GA remain in the program and abstinent from gambling for over a year.[7] Program participation and abstinence increase if members are involved in additional therapy, or if one or more of their family members are involved in Gam-Anon or Gam-A-Teen.[8][9][10]

Gender bias

Although the likelihood of attending GA is the same for males and females,[11] GA has been characterized as a predominately male fellowship. The number of female members, however, is increasing and there is an increasing sensitivity within GA to women's attitudes.[6] GA's lack of appeal towards females has been attributed to GA's lack of focus on the principles of spirituality in other twelve-step programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). A causal link, however, has not been shown. GA is often described as more secularized than AA.[12]

Among problem gamblers, it has been found that women are more focused on interpersonal issues, and that social issues were more likely to cause them to "relapse." Males more frequently discuss "external concerns" such as jobs and legal problems, and are more likely to relapse because of substance abuse. Therefore, it does seem plausible that GA's downplaying of spiritual, interpersonal, and psychoemotional issues, inhibits its effectiveness for women.[6][13]

Literature

Gamblers Anonymous has several approved books used as standard literature in the group. These are some of the most popular examples:

References

  1. ↑ Petry, Nancy M. (March 2005). "Gamblers Anonymous and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies for Pathological Gamblers". Journal of Gambling Studies. 21 (1): 27–33. doi:10.1007/s10899-004-1919-5. ISSN 1573-3602. PMID 15789187.
  2. 1 2 Petry, Nancy M. (August 2003). "Patterns and correlates of Gamblers Anonymous attendance in pathological gamblers seeking professional treatment". Addictive behaviors. 28 (6): 1049–1062. doi:10.1016/S0306-4603(02)00233-2. ISSN 0306-4603. PMID 12834650.
  3. ↑ Kuley, Nadia B.; Jacobs, Durand F. (September 1988). "The relationship between dissociative-like experiences and sensation seeking among social and problem gamblers". Journal of Gambling Studies. 4 (3): 197–207. doi:10.1007/BF01018332. ISSN 1050-5350.
  4. ↑ Ursua, Maria Prieto; Uribelarrea, Luis Llavona (March 1998). "20 Questions of Gamblers Anonymous: A Psychometric Study with Population of Spain". Journal of Gambling Studies. 14 (1): 3–15. doi:10.1023/A:1023033924960. ISSN 1050-5350. PMID 12766432.
  5. ↑ Brown, R.I.F. (September 1987). "Dropouts and continuers in Gamblers Anonymous: Part four. Evaluation and summary". Journal of Gambling Studies. 3 (3): 202–210. doi:10.1007/BF01367441. ISSN 1050-5350.
  6. 1 2 3 Ferentzy, Peter (2005). "Gamblers Anonymous: A critical review of the literature". EGambling. (subscription required (help)).
  7. ↑ Stewart, RM; Brown, RI (February 1988). "An outcome study of Gamblers Anonymous". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 152 (2): 284–288. doi:10.1192/bjp.152.2.284. ISSN 0007-1250. PMID 3167353.
  8. ↑ Petry, Nancy M.; Armentano, Christopher (1 August 1999). "Prevalence, Assessment, and Treatment of Pathological Gambling: A Review". Psychiatric Services. 50 (8): 1021–1027. doi:10.1176/ps.50.8.1021. ISSN 1075-2730. PMID 10445649.
  9. ↑ Johnson, EE; Nora, RM (December 1992). "Does spousal participation in Gamblers Anonymous benefit compulsive gamblers?". Psychological reports. 72 (3 Pt 1): 914. ISSN 0033-2941. PMID 1454942.
  10. ↑ Ciarrocchi, Joseph W.; Reinert, Duane F. (December 1993). "Family environment and length of recovery for married male members of Gamblers Anonymous and female members of GamAnon". Journal of Gambling Studies. 9 (4): 341–352. doi:10.1007/BF01014626. ISSN 1050-5350.
  11. ↑ Crisp, Beth R.; Thomas, Shane A.; Jackson, Alun C.; Thomason, Neil; Smith, Serena; Borrell, Jennifer; Ho, Wei-ying; Holt, Tangerine A. (1 March 2000). "Sex Differences in the Treatment Needs and Outcomes of Problem Gamblers" (abstract page). Research on Social Work Practice. 10 (2): 229–242.
  12. ↑ Browne, Basil R. (September 1994). "Really not god: Secularization and pragmatism in Gamblers Anonymous". Journal of Gambling Studies. 10 (3): 247–260. doi:10.1007/BF02104966. ISSN 1050-5350. PMID 24234922.
  13. ↑ Preston, Frederick W.; Smith, Ronald W. (September 1985). "Delabeling and relabeling in Gamblers Anonymous: Problems with transferring the Alcoholics Anonymous paradigm". Journal of Gambling Studies. 1 (2): 97–105. doi:10.1007/BF01019862. ISSN 1050-5350.

Further reading

External links

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