18-Item Version of the Short Gambling Harm Screen (SGHS-18): Validation of Screen for Assessing Gambling-Related Harm among Finnish Population

Tiina Latvala, Matthew Browne, Matthew Rockloff and Anne H. Salonen
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Tiina Latvala: Health and Wellbeing Promotion Unit, Department of Public Health Solutions, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, 00271 Helsinki, Finland
Matthew Browne: Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory, Central Queensland University, Bundaberg 4670, Australia
Matthew Rockloff: Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory, Central Queensland University, Bundaberg 4670, Australia
Anne H. Salonen: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: Background and aims: It is common for gambling research to focus on problem and disordered gambling. Less is known about the prevalence of gambling-related harms among people in the general population. This study aimed to develop and validate the 18-item version of the Short Gambling Harms Screen (SGHS-18). Methods: Population-representative web-based and postal surveys were conducted in the three geographical areas of Finland ( n = 7186, aged 18 or older). Reliability and internal structure of SGHS-18 was assessed using coefficient omega and via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Four measurement models of SGHS-18 were compared: one-factor, six-factor, a second-ordered factor model and a bifactor model (M4). Results: The analysis revealed that only the bifactor model had adequate fit for SGHS-18 (CFI = 0.953, TLI = 0.930, GFI = 0.974, RMSEA = 0.047, SRMR = 0.027). The general factor explained most of the common variance compared to specific factors. Coefficient omega hierarchical value for global gambling harm factor (0.80) was high, which suggested that SGHS-18 assessed the combination of general harm constructs sufficiently. The correlation with the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measures (PPGM) was 0.44, potentially reflecting that gambling harms are closely—although not perfectly—aligned with the mental health issue of problem gambling. SGHS-18 scores were substantially higher for participants who gambled more often, who spent more money or who had gambling problems, demonstrating convergent validity for the screen. Discussion: The SGHS-18 comprehensively measures the domains of gambling harm, while demonstrating desirable properties of internal consistency, and criterion and convergent validity.

Keywords: gambling-related harm; population screen; validation; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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