Clinical consensus statements on change techniques for gambling treatment: A Delphi study with clinicians.

Background And Aims: The active ingredients of psychological gambling treatments remain unclear, with research identifying effective change techniques only emerging. This study aimed to identify clinical consensus statements on effective change techniques for gambling treatment according to Australian and New Zealand gambling clinicians. Identification of promising change techniques can inform the development of optimised interventions.

Current approaches to the identification and management of gambling disorder: a narrative review to inform clinical practice in Australia and New Zealand.

Gambling disorder is a recognised psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) and is classified as an addiction alongside alcohol and substance use disorders. The DSM-5 describes a past-year timeframe, episodic or persistent specifiers, early or sustained remission specifiers, and three gambling disorder severity specifiers (mild, moderate and severe). Although anyone can develop gambling disorder, there are known risk factors.

ChatGPT for Automated Qualitative Research: Content Analysis.

Background: Data analysis approaches such as qualitative content analysis are notoriously time and labor intensive because of the time to detect, assess, and code a large amount of data. Tools such as ChatGPT may have tremendous potential in automating at least some of the analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the utility of ChatGPT in conducting qualitative content analysis through the analysis of forum posts from people sharing their experiences on reducing their sugar consumption.

Applying the Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention Framework to the Development of Gambling Interventions.

Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs) are emerging "push" mHealth interventions that provide the right type, timing, and amount of support to address the dynamically-changing needs for each individual. Although JITAIs are well-suited to the delivery of interventions for the addictions, few are available to support gambling behaviour change. We therefore developed GamblingLess: In-The-Moment and Gambling Habit Hacker, two smartphone-delivered JITAIs that differ with respect to their target populations, theoretical underpinnings, and decision rules.

The Practice and Feasibility of Screening, Treatment, and Referral for Gaming Problems in Gambling, Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Youth Services.

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a comprehensive approach to identifying people at risk of addiction, but its feasibility for gaming disorder is unknown. This study surveyed 88 clinicians from gambling, alcohol and other drugs, and youth services in New Zealand. Results indicated that the most frequent GD screening method was an unstructured interview (61%), but 74% stated they would use a standardized tool if available.

A Gambling Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (GamblingLess: In-The-Moment): Protocol for a Microrandomized Trial.

Background: The presence of discrete but fluctuating precipitants, in combination with the dynamic nature of gambling episodes, calls for the development of tailored interventions delivered in real time, such as just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). JITAIs leverage mobile and wireless technologies to address dynamically changing individual needs by providing the type and amount of support required at the right time and only when needed. They have the added benefit of reaching underserved populations by providing accessible, convenient, and low-burden support.

Smartphone App Delivery of a Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention for Adult Gamblers (Gambling Habit Hacker): Protocol for a Microrandomized Trial.

Background: People with gambling problems frequently report repeated unsuccessful attempts to change their behavior. Although many behavior change techniques are available to individuals to reduce gambling harm, they can be challenging to implement or maintain. The provision of implementation support tailored for immediate, real-time, individualized circumstances may improve attempts at behavior change.

Global prevalence of help-seeking for problem gambling: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Multiple studies have examined barriers and facilitators to help-seeking, but the prevalence of help-seeking for problem gambling (PG) is not well established. We aimed to estimate the international prevalence of help-seeking for PG among the general population and among subgroups of people at risk for PG (i.e.

Affected other interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis across addictions.

Background And Aims: Individuals impacted by someone else's alcohol, illicit drug, gambling and gaming problems (affected others) experience extensive harms. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions delivered to affected others across addictions.

Methods: This review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Adapting an Evidence-Based e-Learning Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program Into a Mobile App for People Experiencing Gambling-Related Problems: Formative Study.

Background: Many people who experience harm and problems from gambling do not seek treatment from gambling treatment services because of personal and resource barriers. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions are widely used across diverse health care areas and populations. However, there are few in the gambling harm field, despite their potential as an additional modality for delivering treatment and support.

The impact of COVID-19 on addiction treatment in New Zealand.

COVID-19 public health measures, including lockdowns, have disrupted psychological service delivery for substance use and behavioural addictions. This study aimed to examine how addictions treatment had been affected by COVID-19 related factors from the perspective of addiction and mental health service providers. Participants (n = 93) were experienced service managers and clinicians in New Zealand who completed an online survey.

Sugar Habit Hacker: Initial evidence that a planning intervention reduces sugar intake.

Background And Aims: Sugar is a potentially addictive substance that is consumed in such high levels the World Health Organisation has set recommended consumption limits. To date there are no empirically tested brief interventions for reducing sugar consumption in adult populations. The current study aimed to preliminarily assess the feasibility of recruitment, retention, and intervention engagement and impact of a brief intervention.

A scoping review of hard systems and tools that restrict money and cash for gambling.

Background: Gamblers engage in a range of "soft" financial options to limit access to money or cash for gambling (e.g., family looks after cash).

A Systematic Review of Internet Delivered Interventions for Gambling: Prevention, Harm Reduction and Early Intervention.

Internet delivered interventions are accessible and easy to access and can be used to deliver brief interventions. These interventions can be tailored according to individual need for the prevention and minimisation of gambling harm or early intervention for those that are displaying some signs of problems. The objective of this review was to summarise the existing literature on the effectiveness of prevention, harm reduction and early intervention programs when delivered online.

Person-centred interventions for problem gaming: a stepped care approach.

Background: Problem gaming is reported by approximately 1-3% of the population and is associated with decreased health and wellbeing. Research on optimal health responses to problem gaming remains limited. This study aimed to identify and describe the key components of a person-centred approach to interventions for problem gaming for individuals who voluntary seek assistance.

The efficacy of Personalized Normative Feedback interventions across addictions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF) may help address addictive disorders. PNF highlights discrepancies between perceived and actual peer norms, juxtaposed against self-reported behavior. PNF can be self-directed and cost-efficient.

Affected Others Responsivity to Gambling Harm: An International Taxonomy of Consumer-Derived Behaviour Change Techniques.

Affected others impacted by someone else's gambling utilise numerous behaviour change strategies to minimise gambling-related harm but knowledge on what these strategies are and how they are implemented is limited. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive data-driven taxonomy of the types of self-help strategies used by affected others, and to categorize these into high-level behaviour change techniques (BCTs). Two taxonomies were developed using an inductive and deductive approach which was applied to a dataset of online sources and organised into the Rubicon model of action phases.

An Examination of Clinician Responses to Problem Gambling in Community Mental Health Services.

Gambling problems commonly co-occur with other mental health problems. However, screening for problem gambling (PG) rarely takes place within mental health treatment settings. The aim of the current study was to examine the way in which mental health clinicians respond to PG issues.

Mechanisms for the reduction of caffeine consumption: What, how and why.

Background: Anecdotal evidence suggests consumers of caffeine self-administer strategies to reduce consumption, but little is known of what these strategies are or how they are implemented. This study aimed to understand the lived experience of reducing caffeine consumption including specific techniques (what) and implementation strategies (how), harm and withdrawal symptoms (why).

Methods: We developed a classification system through an inductive and deductive approach and applied it to a large dataset derived from online sources.

A six-step brief intervention to reduce distress and increase treatment readiness in problem gamblers.

Objective: The majority of people with gambling problems contact helplines when they are in crisis, hampering their capacity to explore suitable treatment options. To date, there has been limited research identifying the best way to support individuals to reduce distress and maximise further treatment-seeking. In this paper, we describe the development and piloting of the resulting six-step brief intervention.

Manaaki - a cognitive behavioral therapy mobile health app to support people experiencing gambling problems: a randomized control trial protocol.

Background: The low utilisation of current treatment services by people with gambling problems highlights the need to explore new modalities of delivering treatment interventions. This protocol presents the design of a pragmatic randomized control trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness and acceptability of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) delivered via a mobile app for people with self-reported gambling problems.

Methods: An innovative CBT mobile app, based on Deakin University's GAMBLINGLESS online program, has been adapted with end-users (Manaaki).

The Reciprocal Association between Problem Gambling and Mental Health Symptoms/Substance Use: Cross-Lagged Path Modelling of Longitudinal Cohort Data.

To date, studies have highlighted cross-sectional and unidirectional prospective relationships between problem gambling and mental health symptoms or substance use. The current study aims to: (1) examine the reciprocal relationships between problem gambling and mental health symptoms (depression, generalized anxiety)/substance use variables (hazardous alcohol use, daily tobacco use, and drug use) using cross-lagged path models in a prospective general population cohort sample; and (2) determine whether these associations are moderated by age and gender. This study involved secondary data analysis from 1109 respondents who provided data during Wave 2 or 3 (12-months apart) of the Tasmanian Longitudinal Gambling Study (Australia).

I was truly addicted to sugar: A consumer-focused classification system of behaviour change strategies for sugar reduction.

The reduction of free sugars has been identified as a priority issue internationally. A range of public health initiatives have been recommended, including the provision of information and support for sugar reduction. To inform these approaches, it is important to know what people actually do in real world settings to reduce their consumption.