Environmental Influence on Gambling Behavior

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Pathological Gambler

Treatments: Other: Go-Nogo test

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02549781

1308093

2013-A01352-43 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

In France, the prevalence of problem gambling and risk has been estimated at 1.3%. This disorder, currently considered a behavioral addiction is characterized by a loss of control and an excessive focus on the game.

The literature on intervening psychological mechanisms in the development of the game led to think that the size of loss of control, central among players, could be understood as a reduction in control capacity but also as automatic activation behavior game.

The task of Go-Nogo, commonly used in cognitive psychology, assesses the automatic and controlled components of behavior. Furthermore, different models of the concept of addiction underline the importance of the environment associated with addiction. However, no study takes into account the interaction between the game environment and the involvement of these mechanisms.

Full description

In this study, patients will realize, on a computer, various exercises (called "Go-Nogo") whose principle is: 2 symbols (for example, a circle and a square) appear in random order on the screen computer. The patient will not press the response button (key on the keyboard) that upon the occurrence of one of the two symbols, in dependence upon the command that it has been given by the psychiatrist, and this as quickly as possible. The patient will successively perform 3 versions of this exercise (with a neutral wallpaper, with neutral/games images or with neutral/games tones).Order of the 3 versions will be determined by randomization.

Enrollment: 12 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• For pathological gambler (JP): active casino players meet the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling according to DSM-IV-TR
• For social player (JS): casino players who score the SOGS is less than or equal to 2, and playing at least once a month in a money game and chance.
• For non-gamer witnesses (T): play less than once per month to any type of gambling, except for Lotto and Euromillion where the threshold is increased at least once a week. These two draw games are considered more socially enrolled in a leisure practice without necessarily enroll in gambling.
• Right handed
• Aged between 18-60 years.
• Without psychotropic treatment or treatment with a stable and unchanged for over a month.

Exclusion criteria

• Participants with a problem of visual acuity and / or uncorrected hearing.
• Other current addiction (except tobacco, for reasons of feasibility).
• Current Psychiatric comorbidity
• Treatment psychotropic introduced or changed for less than a month.
• Subjects with atrial fibrillation, with a pacemaker and / or receiving antiarrhythmic drugs

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

12 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Gambler performing Go-Nogo

Experimental group

Description:

In this study, Gambler performing Go-Nogo test. On a computer, various exercises (called "Go-Nogo") whose principle is: 2 symbols (for example, a circle and a square) appear in random order on the screen computer. The patient will not press the response button (key on the keyboard) that upon the occurrence of one of the two symbols, in dependence upon the command that it has been given by the psychiatrist, and this as quickly as possible. The patient will successively perform 3 versions of this exercise (with a neutral wallpaper, with neutral/games images or with neutral/games tones). Order of the 3 versions will be determined by randomization.

Treatment:

Other: Go-Nogo test

Social layer performing Go-Nogo

Active Comparator group

Description:

In this study, social player performing Go-Nogo test. On a computer, various exercises (called "Go-Nogo") whose principle is: 2 symbols (for example, a circle and a square) appear in random order on the screen computer. The patient will not press the response button (key on the keyboard) that upon the occurrence of one of the two symbols, in dependence upon the command that it has been given by the psychiatrist, and this as quickly as possible. The patient will successively perform 3 versions of this exercise (with a neutral wallpaper, with neutral/games images or with neutral/games tones). Order of the 3 versions will be determined by randomization.

Treatment:

Other: Go-Nogo test

non-gamer witnesses performing Go-Nogo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

In this study, non-gamer witnesses performing Go-Nogo test. On a computer, various exercises (called "Go-Nogo") whose principle is: 2 symbols (for example, a circle and a square) appear in random order on the screen computer. The patient will not press the response button (key on the keyboard) that upon the occurrence of one of the two symbols, in dependence upon the command that it has been given by the psychiatrist, and this as quickly as possible. The patient will successively perform 3 versions of this exercise (with a neutral wallpaper, with neutral/games images or with neutral/games tones). Order of the 3 versions will be determined by randomization.

Treatment:

Other: Go-Nogo test