Primed for Change: Facilitating Factors in Problem Gambling Treatment

To successfully facilitate the treatment of problem gambling, change processes should be examined in order to identify those variables that differentiate good versus poor treatment outcomes. The current study explored the change facilitating effects of certain characteristics or conditions of an individual being treated: emotional support, instrumental support, emotional awareness, GA involvement, and depressed affect. These conditions were hypothesized to be predictive of a change-oriented mindset (i.e., “resources for change”) measured by abstinence self-efficacy, motivation for change, and readiness for change. Participants were 60 outpatients (54.2% male; M age = 46.7 years) with problem gambling recruited from several treatment centres throughout Ontario, Canada. Results indicated that: (1) depressed affect and emotional support seem to influence self-efficacy for abstinence, (2) emotional support alone appears to influence motivation for change, and (3) GA involvement, depressed affect, and emotional awareness, together, seem to influence readiness for change. These findings have implications for promoting change oriented dispositions in problem gambling individuals.