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Abstract
Impulsive behavior can be observed in the acquired brain injury (ABI) population on a frequent basis. The majority of the participants that suffer from an ABI display some form of impulse control problem in their lives. A great many of the behavioral manifestations of impulse control problems have been addressed in rehabilitation settings (Lezak, 1995). An area of behavioral impulse control that has not been observed or treated effectively in the ABI population is problematic gambling behavior. Though prevalence data are available in the non-ABI population for these issues, no information is available in the literature related to problematic gambling in the ABI population. The present study addressed this by including a prevalence survey of problematic gambling behavior as assessed through the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). A lowered cutoff score of 3 or above on the SOGS was utilized to find a 25% prevalence rate of problematic gambling in the current sample of 162 participants compared to 1-2% in U.S. samples. There was also a relationship noted between the site of injury of the ABI sample in that damage to the frontal lobe and basal portions of the brain was much more predictive of a higher SOGS score than damage to other areas of the brain. In addition to obtaining prevalence data related to problematic gambling in the ABI population, a treatment intervention package was examined with 3 participants with a brain injury. The efficacy of the treatment package was examined utilizing a multiple baseline design across 3 participants with SOGS scores in the problematic to pathological range related to their gambling behavior. The results showed that the cognitive-behavioral intervention package was able to reduce both the amount of money wagered as well as the self-reports of the impulse to gamble across all of the participants in the study.
