Background: The risk for behavioral addictions is rising among women within the general population and in clinical settings. However, few studies have assessed treatment effectiveness in females. The aim of this work was to explore latent empirical classes of women with gambling disorder (GD) and buying/shopping disorder (BSD) based on the treatment outcome, as well as to identify predictors of the different empirical groups considering the sociodemographic and clinical profiles at baseline.
Method: A clinical sample of n = 318 women seeking treatment for GD (n = 221) or BSD (n = 97) participated. Age was between 21 to 77 years.
Results: The four latent-classes solution was the optimal classification in the study. Latent class 1 (LT1, good progression to recovery) grouped patients with the best CBT outcomes (lowest risk of dropout and relapses), and it was characterized by the healthiest psychological state at baseline, the lowest scores in harm avoidance and self-transcendence, and the highest scores in reward dependence, persistence, self-directedness and cooperativeness. Latent classes 3 (LT3, bad progression to drop-out) and 4 (LT4, bad progression to relapse) grouped women with the youngest mean age, earliest onset of the addictive behaviors, and worst psychological functioning.
Conclusions: GD and BSD are complex conditions with multiple interactive causes and impacts, which need wide and flexible treatment plans. Specific interventions should be designed according to the specific profiles of women for achieving early inclusion, retention and well-maintained long-term effects.
Keywords: buying/shopping disorder; cognitive behavioral therapy; gambling disorder; latent class analysis; women.