Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26878894›Full record

Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2016

The Efficacy of Three Modalities of Internet-Based Psychotherapy for Non-Treatment-Seeking Online Problem Gamblers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Amandine Luquiens, Marie-Laure Tanguy, Marthylle Lagadec, Amine Benyamina, Henri-Jean Aubin, Michel Reynaud

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
43citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

43 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  9. A systematic review of treatments for problem gambling.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2017
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Amandine LuquiensPaul Brousse Hospital, APHP, Villejuif - University Paris-Sud - Inserm U1178 - CESP, Department of Addiction, Villejuif cedex, France. amandineluquiens@yahoo.fr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9402-442X
Marie-Laure TanguyORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2431-2266
Marthylle LagadecORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7616-2434
Amine BenyaminaORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3679-1858
Henri-Jean AubinORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6604-6672
Michel ReynaudORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0034-1820

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInternet-based interventions targeted at the most at-risk gamblers could reduce the treatment gap for addictive disorders. Currently, no clinical trial has included non-treatment-seeking patients who have been recruited directly in their gambling environment. This study was the first exclusively Internet-based randomized controlled trial among non-help-seeking problem gamblers with naturalistic recruitment in their gambling environment.

objectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of three modalities of Internet-based psychotherapies with or without guidance, compared to a control condition, among problem gamblers who play online poker.

methodsAll active poker gamblers on the Winamax website were systematically offered screening. All problem poker gamblers identified with a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score of ≥ 5 were eligible to be included in the trial. Problem gamblers were randomized into four groups: (1) waiting list (control group), (2) personalized normalized feedback on their gambling status by email, (3) an email containing a self-help book to be downloaded with a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) program without guidance, and (4) the same CBT program emailed weekly by a trained psychologist with personalized guidance. Efficacy was assessed based on the change in PGSI between baseline and 6 weeks (end of treatment) or 12 weeks (maintenance) and supported by player account-based gambling data automatically collected at the three time points.

resultsAll groups met high attrition rates (83%), but the group with guidance had a significantly higher dropout rate than the other three groups, including the control group. Although all groups showed some improvement, with a mean decrease of 1.35 on the PGSI, no significant difference in efficacy between the groups was observed. One-third of the problem gamblers fell below the problem gambling threshold at 6 weeks.

conclusionsGuidance could have aversively affected problem gamblers who had not sought help. Despite the lack of significant difference in efficacy between groups, this naturalistic trial provides a basis for the development of future Internet-based trials in individuals with gambling disorders. Comorbidities, natural course of illness, and intrinsic motivation seem to be critical issues to consider in future designs.

trial registrationANSM 2013-A00794-41.

Indexed as

AdultCognitive Behavioral TherapyFemaleGamblingHumansInternetMalePsychotherapybrief interventionguidanceinternet-based cognitive behavioral therapyinternet-based randomized controlled trialnon-help seekingpokerproblem gambling

Identifiers

PMID26878894
PMCPMC4771930

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.