SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
According to a study commissioned by GambleAware, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has shown the strongest evidence of positive impact on treating gambling disorders.
Conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, the paper focuses on reviewing literature published between 2020 and 2024 exploring evidence around psychological and psychosocial interventions.
Besides CBT, the range of intervention types also features Motivational Interventions, Residential Treatment, helplines, peer-led group programmes, and intervention for affected others – also known as support for people affected by someone else’s gambling.
The evidence-based approach focused on measures relating to gambling, such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), gambling participation, and money spent – instead of broader metrics like mental health, financial and relationship harm.
CBT’s effectiveness in positively impacting intervention was backed by “strong evidence”, however it is worth noting that CBT evidence needed to draw a conclusion surpassed that of other intervention types by volume.
In addition, the large portion of quantitative evidence in support of CBT mostly covered short-term effects, assessing pre- and post-treatment outcomes, with some case studies covering a longer period of up to three years.
The research concluded by outlining the evidence gap and signaling the need for further research by service and healthcare providers to inform future work in the field.
