The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS): a new instrument for the identification of pathological gamblers

Abstract

The South Oaks Gambling Screen is a 20-item questionnaire based on DSM-III criteria for pathological gambling. It may be self-administered or administered by nonprofessional or professional interviewers. A total of 1,616 subjects were involved in its development: 867 patients with diagnoses of substance abuse and pathological gambling, 213 members of Gamblers Anonymous, 384 university students, and 152 hospital employees. Independent validation by family members and counselors was obtained for the calibration sample, and internal consistency and test-retest reliability were established. The instrument correlates well with the criteria of the revised version of DSM-III (DSM-III-R). It offers a convenient means to screen clinical populations of alcoholics and drug abusers, as well as general populations, for pathological gambling.

The Influence of Locus of Control and Sensation Seeking Among Undergraduate Texas Hold’em Players

“…The SOGS (Lesieur & Blume, 1987) is a widely used internationally standardized survey screen for pathological gambling (Walker & Dickerson, 1996). The SOGS is a 16-item self-report questionnaire where 20 items are summed to produce a final score.…”

“…From a broader perspective, previous research has attempted to delineate personality factors that distinguish between problem and non-problem gamblers (e.g., Lesieur & Blume, 1987;Parke, Griffiths, & Irwing, 2004;Stinchfield et al, 2006) and differing gambling behaviours in university populations (e.g., Buckle, Dwyer, Duffy, Brown, & Pickett, 2013;MacLaren, Best, Dixon, & Harrigan, 2011). Two commonly studied personality traits which have been found to be associated with gambling are locus of control and sensation seeking.…”

“…However, despite the increasing popularity of Hold'em and the vulnerability to problem and pathological gambling among university students (Engwall, Hunter, & Steinberg 2004;Lesieur & Blume, 1987;Shaffer, Hall, & Vander Bilt, 1997;Stinchfield et al, 2006), the risk factors for pathological gambling for this population remain unknown. Given the unique nature of Hold'em, the present study had two aims: 1) To describe Canadian university students' gambling and Hold'em behaviours, and outline university students' perceptions of Hold'em gambling, and 2) To determine whether locus of control and sensation-seeking traits independently predicted gambling behaviours in a university sample, specifically among Hold'em players.…”

Interdisciplinary Issues at the Intersection of Assessing and Treating Substance Use Disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Clinical Social Work and Clinical Behavioral Analysis with Veterans

“…To date, no research has been conducted on the clinical validity or reliability (see also Volberg & Williams, 2011). Gambling proclivity is assessed using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS; Lesieur & Blume, 1987), where scores of 5 or higher indicate disordered or pathological gambling. Gambling severity is assessed using the Gambling Severity Assessment Scale (GSAS).…”

“…During screening, she was identified as having severe gambling disorder (South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS; Lesieur & Blume, 1987) score of 18), and gambled to access escape and tangible items according to the Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA; Dixon & Johnson, 2007). During treatment, she was concerned with her gambling behaviors.…”