Validation of the Gambling Problem Recognition Scale

Gambling problem recognition is an understudied construct with theoretical relevance to the behaviour change process. This study is a psychometric validation of the four-item Gambling Problem Recognition Scale (GPRS). A secondary analysis of data from the Addiction Substitution and Natural Recovery longitudinal study was conducted. Confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the fit of the GRPS to a single factor model, Kendall's tau correlations were used to test convergent and divergent validity, and logistic regression was used to evaluated the incremental validity of the GPRS after adjusting for other factors that explain variance in gambling help-seeking. Converging analyses provided evidence of a strong general factor underlying the GPRS, though there is evidence of local dependence between items. Total scores on the GPRS correlated strongly with problem gambling severity, gambling-related harm, and other measures of problem recognition, and more weakly with measures of gambling participation and psychological distress. The GPRS also explains variance in help-seeking above and beyond other relevant factors, such as problem gambling severity. This study provides evidence for the validity of the GPRS as a measure of gambling problem recognition. The availability of an adequate measure for problem recognition facilitates future research regarding this theoretically-relevant but understudied construct. To this end, our findings provide preliminary evidence that problem recognition uniquely contributes to gambling help-seeking and thus, may be implicated in the process of recovery from gambling problems.