Latent Classes for the Treatment Outcomes in Women with Gambling Disorder and Buying/Shopping Disorder

Background: The risk for behavioral addictions is rising among women within the general population and in clinical settings. However, few studies have assessed treatment effectiveness in females. The aim of this work was to explore latent empirical classes of women with gambling disorder (GD) and buying/shopping disorder (BSD) based on the treatment outcome, as well as to identify predictors of the different empirical groups considering the sociodemographic and clinical profiles at baseline. Method: A clinical sample of n = 318 women seeking treatment for GD (n = 221) or BSD (n = 97) participated. Age was between 21 to 77 years. Results: The four latent-classes solution was the optimal classification in the study. Latent class 1 (LT1, good progression to recovery) grouped patients with the best CBT outcomes (lowest risk of dropout and relapses), and it was characterized by the healthiest psychological state at baseline, the lowest scores in harm avoidance and self-transcendence, and the highest scores in reward dependence, persistence, self-directedness and cooperativeness. Latent classes 3 (LT3, bad progression to drop-out) and 4 (LT4, bad progression to relapse) grouped women with the youngest mean age, earliest onset of the addictive behaviors, and worst psychological functioning. Conclusions: GD and BSD are complex conditions with multiple interactive causes and impacts, which need wide and flexible treatment plans. Specific interventions should be designed according to the specific profiles of women for achieving early inclusion, retention and well-maintained long-term effects

Are there clinical, psychopathological and therapy outcomes correlates associated with self-exclusion from gambling?

Background and aims: Self-exclusion in gambling disorder (GD) is considered a measure to decrease the negative consequences of gambling behavior. Under a formal self-exclusion program, gamblers request to be banned from accessing to the gambling venues or online gambling. The aims of the present study are: 1) to determine sociodemographic characteristics of a clinical sample of seeking-treatment patients with GD who are self-excluded before arriving at the care unit; 2) to identify personality traits and general psychopathology of this clinical population; 3) to analyze the response to treatment, in terms of relapses and dropouts. Methods: 1,416 adults seeking treatment for GD, who are self-excluded completed screening tools to identify GD symptomatology, general psychopathology, and personality traits. The treatment outcome was measured by dropout and relapses. Results: Self-exclusion was significantly related to female sex and a high sociodemographic status. Also, it was associated with a preference for strategic and mixed gambling, longest duration and severity of the disorder, high rates of general psychopathology, more presence of illegal acts and high sensation seeking rates. In relation to treatment, self-exclusion was associated with low relapse rates. Conclusions: The patients who self- exclude before seeking treatment have a specific clinical profile, including high sociodemographic status, highest severity of GD, more years of evolution of the disorder and high emotional distress rates; however, these patients’ presents better response to treatment. Clinically, it could be expected that this strategy could be used as a facilitating variable in the therapeutic process