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Category: Project

Description: Veterans of the U. S. Armed Forces are at greater risk for engaging in problem gambling and meeting diagnostic criteria for Gambling Disorder (GD) than are civilians. For veterans and civilians alike, religious/spiritual beliefs and practices support recovery from addiction and bolster mental health and well-being. Moreover, religious/spiritual ideas pervade Gamblers Anonymous (GA), which remains the predominant community-based treatment modality for gambling disorder. However, research has increasingly highlighted the negative impact of religious/spiritual struggles—i.e., conflicts, tensions, or problems associated with aspects of religious/spiritual life—on mental health and well-being. To date, no research has examined the role of religious/spiritual struggles in GD. The current study aimed to fill that gap in the literature by assessing the prevalence and impact of religious/spiritual struggles among U.S. veterans (N = 157) admitted to a residential treatment program for GD. Findings showed that a majority of veterans in the gambling treatment program endorsed each of six types of religious/spiritual struggles assessed. Moral struggles were the most prevalent, severe, and unremitting of the religious/spiritual struggles assessed. Findings highlight the need for clinicians and chaplains working with problem gamblers to address religious/spiritual struggles in treatment for GD.