The efficacy of a functional therapy program for gambling disorder: A Pilot study

Background: Despite the great progress achieved by treatment approaches for Gambling Disorder (GD) the relevance of studying efficacious therapies still remains high. This pilot study aims at the evaluation of the efficacy of a standardized protocol based on Functional theory for GD. Functional Therapy (FT) is an integrated body-mind therapy. Methods: Twenty-eight pathological gamblers completed the FT protocol consisted in 16 sessions, two times a week for a total duration of two months, in an individual setting. No one of the patients was taking any psychopharmacological therapy. Psychological assessment both at baseline (T0) and at the end of the treament (T1) includes the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the PG-Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Beck Depression Inventory - II version (BDI-II), the Barrat Impulsiveness Scale 11th version (BIS-11) and the Measurement of Psychological Stress (MSP). Results: a significant reduction of GD (gambling frequency, duration, money inserted, and expenditure) in pathological gamblers was revealed together with a significant reduction of depression, anxiety, impulsivity and perceived stress. Conclusions: the structured FT program for GD highlights a strong improvement in gambling behavior, in reducing impulsivity, depression, anxiety and perceived stress, thus obtaining a good compliance and a few dropout.