Using the CPGI to Determine Problem Gambling Prevalence in Australia: Measurement Issues

Most states and territories in Australia have adopted the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index as the standard measure of problem gambling in their prevalence studies and research programs. However, notwithstanding this attempted standardisation, differences...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of mental health and addiction 2010-10, Vol.8 (4), p.570-582
Main Authors: Jackson, Alun C, Wynne, Harold, Dowling, Nicki A, Tomnay, Jane E, Thomas, Shane A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Behavior Problems
Canadian Problem Gambling Index
Community and Environmental Psychology
Cross-sectional studies
Foreign Countries
Gambling
Health Psychology
Incidence
Indexes
Lotteries
Measurement
Measurement Techniques
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Pacific Rim studies
Pathological gambling
prevalence
Problem gambling
Problem Gambling Severity Index
Psychiatry
Psychology
Public Health
Rehabilitation
Sampling
Scoring
Severity (of Disability)
Substance Abuse
Validity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Most states and territories in Australia have adopted the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index as the standard measure of problem gambling in their prevalence studies and research programs. However, notwithstanding this attempted standardisation, differences in sampling and recruitment methodologies and in some cases the modification of the scoring methods used in the PGSI have lead to substantial difficulties in comparison of the prevalence rates obtained in different studies. This paper focuses on how these two actions may significantly underestimate the true prevalence percent of problem gambling in Australian studies of the prevalence of problem gambling. It is recommended that the original and validated version of the PGSI is used in future Australian prevalence studies and that prevalence in community studies is studied across the whole community not arbitrarily restricted sub-samples. The adoption of valid scoring methods and unbiased sampling procedures will lead to more accurate and comparable prevalence studies.
ISSN:1557-1874
1557-1882
DOI:10.1007/s11469-009-9238-9