The efficacy of a personalized feedback-only intervention for at-risk college gamblers.

OBJECTIVE

College students have been shown to be at higher risk than the general adult population for gambling-related problems. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a personalized feedback only intervention (PFB) among at-risk college student gamblers.

METHOD

Three hundred thirty-three college students who met screening criteria were randomized into 1 of 3 conditions: PFB, education only (EDU), or assessment only (AO).

RESULTS

At 3-month follow-up, individuals in the PFB condition reported fewer dollars gambled and fewer gambling-related problems than those in the AO condition. There were no differences between those in the EDU and the AO conditions, or between those in the PFB and the EDU conditions.

CONCLUSION

These findings are consistent with clinical trials examining other health behaviors, and have implications for the development and delivery of effective intervention programming for at-risk gamblers.