Study moved to British Columbia

Despite evidence of high rates of concurrent substance use and anger problems among problem gamblers, until recently there have been no empirically evaluated treatments for these co-morbid problems. A recent study (Korman, Collins, McMain, & Skinner, 2005) found that an emotion and behaviour regulation treatment (EBRT) was more effective than a gambling-only treatment-as-usual in engaging clients in treatment and in reducing gambling, anger, and substance use. This study is a replication of Korman et al's study and will compare an emotion and behaviour regulation treatment (EBRT) for problem gambling, anger and substance use to a manualized cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) for problem gambling.

80 participants will be randomly assigned to either an emotion and behaviour regulation treatment (EBRT) or to a cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT). Randomization will be stratified by the presence of substance dependence disorder. Both treatment conditions will consist of 12 one-hour weekly outpatient individual sessions. Participants will be assessed at baseline, end of treatment, and 3-months, 6-months and 12-months follow-up.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Problem gambling (PGSI > 7; c.f., Ferris & Wynne, 2001)
• Clinically significant anger (STAXI-II anger expression/trait subscale score >75th percentile and/or Anger Control subscale score < 25th percentile; c.f., Spielberger, 1999)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Major thought disorders
• Acute manic episode
• High psychopathy
• Severe developmental/cognitive disability
• Outstanding legal charges/sentencing