Harmonizing Screening for Gambling Problems in Epidemiological Surveys - Development of the Rapid Screener for...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Harmonizing the screening of gambling problems in epidemiological surveys is crucial.
• Existing screening tools may not be brief enough for large-scale surveys.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the screening properties of various gambling scale item combinations.
• To propose two brief screening tools (≤3 items) for interviews and self-administered questionnaires.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated item combinations from established gambling scales in 425 gamblers (301 non-problem, 124 disordered).
• Utilized DSM-5 diagnosis of gambling disorder as the gold standard.
• Tested both interview-based and self-report items.

Main Results:

• Developed two versions of the Rapid Screener for Problem Gambling (RSPG): RSPG-Interview (RSPG-I) with 2 items and RSPG-Self-Assessment (RSPG-SA) with 3 items.
• RSPG-I items: increasing bets, loss of control.
• RSPG-SA items: chasing, guiltiness, perceived inability to stop.

Conclusions:

• Recommend RSPG-SA/I for screening problem gambling in epidemiological surveys, choosing the version appropriate for the survey type.
• These screeners facilitate efficient initial triage but require further assessment to confirm diagnoses.
• The tools offer significant time and energy savings for large-scale problem gambling screening.