Objectives: A therapeutic community has been used to treat addiction. This study analyzed effects of a day program with therapeutic community principles (TC) on gambling abstinence and recovery.
Methods: This was a descriptive, retrospective cohort study that analyzed secondary data. Data were collected from 139 people with gambling disorders who were enrolled in Incheon Problem Gambling Agency from September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2019. Subjects were classified into a TC, usual care (UC), and early completion (EC) groups. Effects of intervention were analyzed using validation of the gambling follow-up scale-Korean.
Results: Among subscales of validation of the gambling follow-up, only job (F=3.17, p=0.008) showed a significant difference over time in each of the three groups. For 12 months, there was a group-specific difference in the time point of recurrence. The group-specif- ic mean retention time for gambling abstinence was 9.00±0.71 months in the TC, which was longer than 3.15±3.15 months in the EC group and 8.29±0.61 months in the UC group (log rank 35.707, p<0.001, generalized Wilcoxon 36.485, p<0.001).
Conclusion: The TC increased the period of maintaining job and gambling abstinence compared to UC and EC.