This study had three main objectives: to examine the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling among older adults, to examine the socio-demographic and gambling patterns of people with various South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised (SOGS-R) scores, and to examine endorsement of the SOGS-R items. The data were drawn from telephone interviews conducted with a sample of 1000 older adults, 60 years and older, throughout the province of Manitoba. Problem gambling was determined from scores on the SOGS-R (Lesieur, H., & Blume, S. (1987). American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 1184-1188; Lesieur, H., & Blume, S. (1993). Journal of Gambling Studies, 9, 213-219). The results showed gambling to be a fairly common activity among older adults, with 74.7% of participants having gambled in the year prior to the study. Of the total sample, 1.6% were gambling at problem levels, and a further 1.2% were gambling at probable pathological levels in the past year. Inspection of gambling patterns by SOGS-R score failed to reveal a clear and consistent distinction between problem gambling and probable pathological gambling. Finally, examination of item distribution revealed consistent trends of both over and under endorsement of certain items. These results suggest the need for either refinement of the SOGS-R for use with older adults, or the development of a new measure specific to older adults.

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This study assessed the possible differences in the classification of adolescent gamblers when using the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA; K. C. Winters, R. D. Stinchfield, & J. Fulkerson, 1993) versus a clinical interview that was based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for pathological gambling. A total of 631 adolescents ages 15-17 years participated in the two phases of the study. Results revealed that of the 93 adolescents who had been screened as problem gamblers according to the SOGS-RA, only 7 could be clinically confirmed as pathological gamblers according to the criteria used at present to define pathological gambling. The need to clarify the construct of pathological gambling among youth is discussed.

This paper reports on the cross validation of the Gambling Problem Severity Subscale of the Canadian Adolescent Gambling Index (CAGI/GPSS). The CAGI/GPSS was included in a large school based drug use and health survey conducted in 2015. Data from students in grades 9–12 (ages 13–20 years) derived from the (N = 3369 students). The CAGI/GPSS produced an alpha of 0.789. A principle component analysis revealed two eigenvalues greater than one. An oblique rotation revealed these components to represent consequences and over involvement. The CAGI/GPSS indicated that 1% of the students fell into the “red” category indicating a severe problem and an additional 3.3% scored in the “yellow” category indicating low to moderate problems. The CAGI/GPSS was shown to be significantly correlated with gambling frequency (r = 0.36), largest expenditure (r = 0.37), sex (more likely to be male) (r = −0.19), lower school marks (r = −0.07), hazardous drinking, (r = 0.16), problem video game play (r = 0.16), as well as substance abuse. The CAGI/GPSS was cross validated using a shorted version of the short SOGS, r = 0.48. In addition the CAGI/GPSS and short SOGS produced very similar patterns of correlations results. The results support the validity and reliability of the CAGI/GPSS as a measure of gambling problems among adolescents.

The broad expansion of gambling across North America during the last two decades has generated concern about the extent of gambling and problem gambling in youth, and the need to more accurately monitor it. The South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) is a promising instrument for screening problem gambling (Winters, Stinchfield, & Fulkerson, 1993) that requires more evaluation. Accordingly, further psychometric analysis of the instrument was conducted as part of a community survey of gambling in a sample of 1,000 male and female youth, aged 12 to 17 years. The analyses extended previous focus by including females, young adolescents, and an evaluation of youth classified as "at-risk." Consistent with preliminary findings obtained during scale development, the distribution of item endorsement revealed trends of over-endorsement for some items (e.g., gambled more than intended, felt bad about the amount bet), and under-endorsement for others (e.g., criticized or told you had a gambling problem). These results suggest consideration of some form of weighting procedure, item deletion or re-wording. A factor analysis of the SOGS-RA items suggested a two-factor solution, with one factor interpreted as Control over Gambling and the other Gambling Consequences. It is proposed that the two factors may represent early versus more severe levels of gambling problems, respectively. The results highlight the need for further psychometric evaluation and refinement of instruments used to identify gambling problems in young people.