A Review of Buddhist Concentration-, Ethics-, and Wisdom-Based Meditation Practices for Prevention and Recovery from Gambling Harm

This critical review assesses the use of Buddhist concentration-, ethics-, and wisdom-based meditation practices in the context of prevention and recovery from gambling harm. It begins by exploring the core psychological mechanisms and processes involved in problem gambling and introduces a model that identifies psychological distress, a lack of values clarification, and a lack of identity as the main drivers of addictive gambling behaviour. The review then examines how the three types of meditation practices interact with these mechanisms to formulate a theoretical framework for using meditative interventions to reduce problem gambling. Additionally, the review analyses several empirical studies that have implemented the different meditation practices in efforts to reduce gambling behaviours, evaluating their effectiveness, and validating the proposed theoretical framework. The review findings indicate that specific meditation practices vary in their effectiveness in addressing the different core mechanisms of problem gambling and in breaking the cycle of addictive behaviour. Consequently, for meditation practices to be most effective as a therapeutic tool for problem gambling, clinicians are recommended to first determine the specific causes of an individual's gambling behaviour and then tailor the meditation intervention to meet those specific needs.