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Recruiting NCT06904794

Evaluation of the Gambling Habits of Adolescents and Young Adults Post-COVID-19 and Implementation of a Digital Escape Room Intervention for Preventing Gambling in High School Students

No phase Interventional Mental Health

For patients and families

In plain language

An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.

What is being studied
The protocol lists: GAMBL-OUT program.
Who it may be relevant to
Registry conditions: Mental Health. Basic parameters: 16 years — 18 years · All.
What needs checking
Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
Where it takes place
Spain
Next step
Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →

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Official title

Evaluation of the Gambling Habits of Adolescents and Young Adults Post-COVID-19 and Implementation of a Digital Escape Room Intervention for Preventing Gambling in High School Students: a Mixed-methods Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial (GAMBL-OUT Project)

Overview

Gambling behaviors among adolescents and young adults have been experiencing an upward trend in the last years, possibly because of new habits developed during the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Different preventive strategies have been proposed: universal classroom-based interventions have shown promising evidence as preventive tools, but challenges exist in engaging the target audience effectively. Serious games, i.e., those designed with the specific intent to educate, broaden knowledge, and change behaviors, have been tested with positive outcomes. Digital escape rooms constitute a modality of serious game that has shown potential for a variety of educational purposes, but their efficacy for preventing addictive behaviors, as well as their long-term impact, has not been widely studied. The present project aims at assessing the gambling habits of a sample of 16-25-year-olds in the region of Aragon, Spain, that could be compared to the data gathered before the pandemic started, so not only the prevalence rates can be updated but also potential differences in habits (e.g., preferred gambling alternatives) can be detected. This will undoubtedly help the design of effective preventive measures, such as the GAMBL-OUT digital escape room, a serious game to be implemented in high schools with the aim of increasing knowledge, reducing intentions to gamble, and changing attitudes towards gambling.

Interventions

  • Behavioral GAMBL-OUT program
    The GAMBL-OUT program consists of two sessions: the first one involves a digital escape room to be delivered in the classroom and a series of physical props to be used during the experience. In small groups (4-5 students), participants need to work together to solve different puzzles and riddles, all of them related to the story of young adults who are dealing with problem gambling. By the end of the game, which will have a limited time (50 minutes), each group will have gained access to a diffe

Primary outcome measures

  • Problem gambling screening (PGSI) [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Problem gambling screening (PGSI) [Time frame: Three-months follow-up]
  • Problem gambling screening (PGSI) [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Problem gambling screening (PGSI) [Time frame: Three-months follow-up]
Secondary outcome measures (12)
  • Gender [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Age [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Nationality [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Current city of residence [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Cohabitation [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Country of birth of parents [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Education [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Employment situation [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Amount of money available for leisure per month [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Amount of money available for leisure per month [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Gambling knowledge scale (ad-hoc) [Time frame: Baseline]
  • Gambling knowledge scale (ad-hoc) [Time frame: up to 2 weeks]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

  • Only high school students aged between 16 and 18
  • Being able to read and understand the Spanish language
  • Willingness to participate in the study and sign the written informed consent form

Exclusion criteria

  • Age: <16 years old, or >18 years old

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation
Randomized
Model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single blind
Primary purpose
Prevention

Study locations

Spain · 1 center
  • Department of Psychiatry. Miguel Servet University Hospital — Zaragoza

Publications

  • Barcelo-Soler A, Monreal-Bartolome A, Perez-Aranda A, Campos D, Beltran-Ruiz M, Puebla-Guedea M, Cabrera-Gil I, Garcia-Campayo J, Lopez-Del-Hoyo Y. Evaluation of the gambling habits of Spanish adolescents and young adults post-COVID-19 and implementation of a digital escape room intervention for preventing gambling: study protocol of a cluster-randomized controlled trial (GAMBL-OUT project). BMC P PMID 40598402

Identifiers

NCT: NCT06904794 · PI24/364

Primary sources (government registries)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗