Gambling and Addictions Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.
J Gambl Stud. 2019 Jun;35(2):617-633. doi: 10.1007/s10899-018-9783-x.
Problematic gambling and depression commonly co-exist, with limited research indicating that depression and/or psychological distress appear to reduce with brief interventions for problem gambling. The present study was designed to examine the effect, over 36 months, of a brief problem gambling intervention on depression in a population of people seeking help for gambling issues. One-hundred and thirty-one participants were recruited from adult (18+ years) gambler callers to the New Zealand national gambling helpline. They received a manualised version of the helpline's brief intervention, and were assessed at baseline, 12 and 36 months. Overall, problem gambling severity reduced from a score of 17 (using the Problem Gambling Severity Index) at baseline to a score of 7.5 at 36 months. The percentage of participants with depression reduced from 74% at baseline to 41% at 36 months. For both problem gambling and depression, the greatest reduction was in the first 12 months. Multiple logistic regression analyses at baseline showed an association between problem gambling and depression. Repeated measures logistic regression indicated that reduced problem gambling severity reduced depression and that there was no independent time effect taking place (i.e. the decreased depression was not due to natural recovery). Thus a single brief telephone intervention for problem gambling substantially reduced the prevalence of depression. This has clinical and public health implications with a benefit being that people with depression and co-existing gambling problems may not necessarily need additional treatment for depression if they receive treatment for their gambling issues.
问题性赌博和抑郁通常并存，有限的研究表明，对于问题性赌博的简短干预似乎可以减轻抑郁和/或心理困扰。本研究旨在探讨在寻求赌博问题帮助的人群中，对问题性赌博进行简短干预对抑郁的影响，时间跨度为 36 个月。从新西兰国家赌博热线的成年（18 岁以上）赌徒来电者中招募了 131 名参与者。他们接受了热线简短干预的手册版本，并在基线、12 个月和 36 个月进行评估。总体而言，问题性赌博的严重程度从基线时的 17 分（使用问题性赌博严重程度指数）下降到 36 个月时的 7.5 分。患有抑郁的参与者比例从基线时的 74%下降到 36 个月时的 41%。对于问题性赌博和抑郁，最大的降幅发生在最初的 12 个月。基线时的多变量逻辑回归分析显示，问题性赌博与抑郁之间存在关联。重复测量逻辑回归表明，问题性赌博严重程度的降低降低了抑郁的程度，并且没有发生独立的时间效应（即抑郁的减少不是由于自然恢复）。因此，针对问题性赌博的单一简短电话干预大大降低了抑郁的发生率。这具有临床和公共卫生意义，其好处是，如果对他们的赌博问题进行治疗，患有抑郁和同时存在赌博问题的人可能不一定需要额外的抑郁治疗。
