title: Gambling screens: does shortening the time frame affect their psychometric properties?
abstract: Gambling screening tools such as the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and a DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems (NODS) developed by the National Opinion Research Council have psychometrically validated lifetime and past-year versions. As research questions often dictate shorter time intervals, researchers have adapted the time frames of these instruments to their specific purposes without examining whether changing the time frame affects the psychometric properties. In this study, 3-month versions of SOGS and NODS were administered to a sample of 80 pathological gamblers (59 men, 21 women, mean age 44) seeking treatment at a state-funded facility. The 3-months versions had good internal consistency, good convergent validity with each other, with gambling behaviors assessed via the timeline followback method, and with measures of impulsivity. The 3-month versions also showed good discriminant validity with demographic variables and a measure of verbal IQ. Together the data indicate that shortening the time frame to 3 months does not seem to have adverse effects on the psychometric properties of SOGS and NODS. Thus these adapted versions could profitably be used for shorter time intervals, including as pre/post-treatment and follow-up measures in treatment outcome studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12222, USA. e.wulfert@albany.edu
authors.forename: Edelgard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wulfert
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hartley
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Naitian
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Ruthlyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sodano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome