Religious and spiritual struggles among military veterans in a residential gambling treatment programme

Abstract

ABSTRACT Military veterans are at greater risk for problem gambling and Gambling Disorder (GD) than are civilians. For veterans and civilians alike, religious and spiritual beliefs and practices have been found to support recovery from addiction. Moreover, religious and spiritual ideas pervade Gamblers Anonymous, which remains the predominant community-based gambling treatment modality. However, no research has examined the role of spiritual struggles in GD. In this study, we assessed the presentation and course of spiritual struggles among veterans (N = 157) admitted to a residential treatment programme for GD and the relationship between spiritual struggles and gambling-related cognitions. Findings showed that a majority of veterans endorsed each type of spiritual struggle assessed. Decreases in gambling-related cognitive distortions were associated with reductions in spiritual struggles. Moral struggles were the most prevalent and unremitting of the spiritual struggles assessed. Findings highlight the need for clinicians to address spiritual struggles with problem gamblers.