Measuring Gambling Reinforcers, Over Consumption and Fallacies: The Psychometric Properties and Predictive Validity of the Jonsson-Abbott Scale

Abstract

Traditionally, gambling and problem gambling research relies on cross-sectional and retrospective designs. This has compromised identification of temporal relationships and causal inference. To overcome these problems a new questionnaire, the Jonsson-Abbott Scale (JAS), was developed and used in a large, prospective, general population study, The Swedish Longitudinal Gambling Study (Swelogs). The JAS has 11 items and seeks to identify early indicators, examine relationships between indicators and assess their capacity to predict future problem progression. The aims of the study were to examine psychometric properties of the JAS (internal consistency and dimensionality) and predictive validity with respect to increased gambling risk and problem gambling onset. The results are based on repeated interviews with 3818 participants. The response rate from the initial baseline wave was 74%. The original sample consisted of a random, stratified selection from the Swedish population register aged between 16 and 84. The results indicate an acceptable fit of a three-factor solution in a confirmatory factor analysis with ‘Over consumption,’ ‘Gambling fallacies,’ and ‘Reinforcers’ as factors. Reinforcers, Over consumption and Gambling fallacies were significant predictors of gambling risk potential and Gambling fallacies and Over consumption were significant predictors of problem gambling onset (incident cases) at 12 month follow up. When controlled for risk potential measured at baseline, the predictor Over consumption was not significant for gambling risk potential at follow up. For incident cases, Gambling fallacies and Over consumption remained significant when controlled for risk potential. Implications of the results for the development of problem gambling, early detection, prevention, and future research are discussed.

Reaching out to big losers: A randomized controlled trial of brief motivational contact providing gambling expenditure feedback.

“…The Swedish Longitudinal Gambling Study showed that heavy gambling involvement predicts gambling problems a year later (Jonsson, Abbott, Sjöberg, & Carlbring, 2017). It is also known that there is a high density of problem gamblers among those with high expenditure (Pallesen, Molde, Mentzoni, Hanss, & Morken, 2016; Public Health Agency of Sweden, 2016).…”

Psychometric properties of the Jonsson-Abbott Scale: Rasch and confirmatory factor analyses

“…The results of the CFA are presented in Table 1. When examining the values from the factor analysis in relation to the cutoffs, the three-factor structure is valid, has an acceptable fit for the sample, and is better than in Jonsson et al (2017a).…”

“…The results from the person item map indicate a hierarchy regarding the subscales. From a theoretical perspective and in line with Jonsson et al (2017a), it appears that behavior that reinforces gambling is the first indicator of possible gambling problems, as it is most common in a low-risk population. The items most likely to be endorsed belonged to the factor Reinforcers, followed by two items in the factor Gambling fallacies.…”

“…However, these two measures were close to the recommended scores, and the confidence interval for RMSEA overlapped with the suggested benchmark for a good fit. It is possible to conclude that the three-factor structure suggested by Jonsson et al (2017a) is viable for use in a population characterized by low risk.…”

Early Detection of Gambling Among At-Risk Adolescents. Validation of EDGAR-A Scale

“…Neither scale evaluates predictors of gambling, rather the cognitive profiles of gamblers. The Jonsson-Abbott Scale (JAS) (Jonsson et al, 2017) seeks to identify early indicators, examine relationships between indicators and assesses their capacity to predict future problem progression. JAS has 11 items classified into three factors:…”