Gambling Participation Instrument

Project Details

Robert Williams & Rachel Volberg

• AMOUNT: $150,000
• STATUS: Complete

Project Description

It is typical for gambling research surveys to assess peoples' participation in gambling and to then examine the intensity of gambling participation as it relates to things such as demographic characteristics, gambling availability and problem gambling. However, despite the frequency of this practice, there is currently no standard way of measuring gambling participation across research projects, and very little known about the most reliable and valid way of assessing gambling participation. This leads to two significant problems. First, it produces a range of different ways of measuring gambling participation, making comparisons between studies and jurisdictions very difficult.  Second, it calls into question research results that posit a link between gambling participation and the variables mentioned above.

The CCGR commissioned this research to rectify this situation by developing a reliable, valid, and well-agreed upon measure of gambling participation. The project began in 2012 with a literature review of the ways in which gambling participation has been asssessed, as well as the optimal methods of collecting retrospective self-report data more generally. Gambling researchers were then consulted for advice about the needed content and structure of an instrument to measure gambling participation. The literature review and expert advice were used to design a draft Gambling Participation Instrument that:

• provides comprehensive coverage of the construct;
• is reasonably consistent with prior measures of gambling participation;
• can be used in population, clinical, and experimental studies;
• can be administered in a short period of time; and
• that theoretically should have high reliability and validity.

Drs. Williams and Volberg are tested the reliability and validity of the draft instrument by (1) comparing six months of weekly logs of gambling behaviour from an online panel with panel members' self-report data on the Gambling Participation Instrument at the end of the six month period; and (2) comparing self-report data on the Gambling Participation Instrument with actual gambling data from an online gambling website. 

Project Resources