3 - (SYM 28) Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Kleptomania in Japan: Focusing on Craving and Outcome Expectancy

Introduction:

Kleptomania involves recurrent, uncontrollable stealing and is widely conceptualized as a behavioral addiction, with treatment regarded as more effective than punitive approaches (Grant, 2006).  However, scientific research on kleptomania has only accumulated since the 1990s, and research remains extremely limited compared to other addictions (Grant & Chamberlain, 2016). In Japan, multiple medical institutions specialize in the treatment of kleptomania and actively accept patients, thereby allowing survey and intervention studies with sufficiently large number of patients (Asami et al., 2020; Asami et al., 2022). Although evidence supports the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for kleptomania, the mechanisms underlying recovery remain unclear. Therefore, the present study focused on craving and outcome expectancy to examine the mechanisms through which CBT facilitates recovery among patients with kleptomania in Japan.

Method:

Participants were 27 patients with kleptomania receiving psychiatric outpatient clinics in Japan. Questionnaire measures of kleptomania severity and risk of recidivism, as well as cognitive tasks assessing craving and outcome expectancy were administered at baseline and upon completion of a six-session group CBT program. We calculated the differences in the change of each variable between the pre and post of the program by employing a t-test.

Results and

Discussion:

Paired-samples t-tests indicated a significant reduction in severity of kleptomania t(26)=2.68, p</em>< .05), whereas no significant changes were observed in the recidivism risk, craving, or outcome expectancy. These results suggest that the program may be effective in improving kleptomania symptoms. Spearman’s correlation analyses of change scores revealed that reductions in craving and outcome expectancy were significantly associated with reductions in recidivism risk (r=-.61, p< .01; r=.61, p< .01). These findings suggest that decreases in craving and outcome expectancy may contribute more directly to recidivism prevention than to symptom improvement. Future research should develop interventions that explicitly target these mechanisms and include more diverse, international samples.