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

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 ( = 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.