Abstract
Gamblers Anonymous is the most widely available form of support for disordered gambling. Although chapters exist worldwide, knowledge of how attendees interact with the program is limited. The present study aimed to investigate involvement in Gamblers Anonymous among attendees, motives for attendance, and overall satisfaction with the program. Furthermore, potential gambling-related predictors of attendance versus deciding not to attend Gamblers Anonymous were investigated. A treatment-seeking sample of disordered gamblers (N = 512) from São Paulo, Brazil completed a series of self-report measures including an author-compiled Gamblers Anonymous survey. From the sample, 141 gamblers reported attending Gamblers Anonymous over the previous 30 days. An examination of involvement, satisfaction, and motives for attending Gamblers Anonymous was conducted, followed by regression analyses to assess predictors of attendance and satisfaction with the program. The majority of attendees (80%) reported some satisfaction with the program. The most common motive for attending Gamblers Anonymous was related to relapse prevention. Regression analyses revealed that greater gambling severity and number of days gambled were associated with not attending Gamblers Anonymous while giving testimonials was strongly related (OR = 6.18) to satisfaction with the program. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on Gamblers Anonymous. In particular, that members derive great satisfaction from the program and see it as a way to strengthen their abstinence goals. However, despite high satisfaction, the results also suggest that most members were passively involved in the program. More research that assesses the effectiveness of Gamblers Anonymous as either a stand-alone or adjunct treatment is needed.
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Funding
This study was partially funded by an Eyes High International Collaborative Grant for New Researchers awarded to Daniel S. McGrath, Hyoun S. Kim, David C. Hodgins and Hermano Tavares (Grant Number OP75-7877).
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Daniel S. McGrath, Hyoun S. Kim, David C. Hodgins, Christine Novitsky declare that they has no conflict of interest. Hermano Tavares has received research grants, sources of funding, as well as provision of equipment and supplies from the following development agencies and financers: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq—(National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) for the concession of Productivity Grant Process CNPq 304767/2011-5; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq—(National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) for the concession of the resource for the Universal Project Research Aid in the Process CNPq 445465/2014-0; Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF) for granting an appeal under Contract Number 3800/2015 and Process Number 7066.01.0168.01/2015; Serasa—Experian, by granting resource contract with no number.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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McGrath, D.S., Kim, H.S., Hodgins, D.C. et al. Who Are the Anonymous? Involvement and Predictors of Gamblers Anonymous Attendance Among Disordered Gamblers Presenting for Treatment. J Gambl Stud 34, 1423–1434 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-9774-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-9774-y