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01-03-2009 | Original Paper

Evaluating the Problem Gambling Severity Index

Author: Thomas Holtgraves

Published in: Journal of Gambling Studies | Issue 1/2009

Abstract

A large, integrated survey data set provided by the Ontario Problem Gambling Centre was used to investigate psychometric properties of the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). This nine-item self-report instrument was designed to measure a single, problem gambling construct. Unlike its nearest competitor—the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS)—the PGSI was designed specifically for use with a general population rather than in a clinical context. The present analyses demonstrated that the PGSI does assess a single, underlying, factor, but that this is complicated by different, multiple factor structures for respondents with differing levels of problem gambling severity. The PGSI also demonstrated small to moderate correlations with measures of gambling frequency and faulty cognitions. Overall, the PGSI presents a viable alternative to the SOGS for assessing degrees of problem gambling severity in a non-clinical context.

Most surveys also contained items assessing amount spent gambling. However, question wording for these items varied considerably over surveys and hence it was not possible to use them.

There was only one survey (British Columbia) that contained both PGSI and SOGS items. Consistent with prior research (Ferris and Wynne 2001), there was a moderately high correlation between the SOGS and the PGSI (r = .80, N = 2,126) in this sample.

A common misconception about alpha is that it can only vary between 0 and 1.0 (Streiner, 2003). However, if the correlations between some of the items are negative, than negative alphas can result, as in the present case.

I thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this possibility.

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Title: Evaluating the Problem Gambling Severity Index
Author: Thomas Holtgraves
Publication date: 01-03-2009
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Gambling Studies / Issue 1/2009
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3602
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-008-9107-7

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