The South Oaks Gambling screen: A review with reference to Australian use

• Published in: Journal of gambling studies Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 257 - 271
• Main Authors: BATTERSBY, Malcolm W, THOMAS, Lyndall J, TOLCHARD, Barry, ESTERMAN, Adrian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Secaucus, NJ Springer 01-10-2002; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Addiction; Australia; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Borrowing; Discriminant analysis; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - diagnosis; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - psychology; Gambling; Gambling - psychology; Gaming machines; Humans; Legalized gambling; Measures (Instruments); Medical sciences; Pathological gambling; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychological aspects; Psychological tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometric Analysis; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Research Design; Risk-Taking; Screening; South Oaks Gambling Screen; Standard deviation; Statistical analysis; Techniques and methods; Validation studies; Validity; Australia; Oceania; Social environment; Human; Perfecting; Impulse control disorder; Questionnaire; Use; Prediction; Psychometrics; Review; Medical screening; Test reliability; Item analysis; Pathological gambling; Test validation; Construct validity; Cutoff note; Test scoring; Comparative study
• ISSN: 1050-5350; 1573-3602
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1016895221871

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) is a psychometric instrument widely used internationally to assess the presence of pathological gambling. Developed by Lesieur and Blume (1987) in the United States of America (USA) as a self-rated screening instrument, it is based on DSM-III and DSM-III-R criteria. This paper describes the origins and psychometric development of the SOGS and comments critically in relation to its construct validity and cutoff scores. Reference is made to the use of the SOGS in the Australian setting, where historically gambling has been a widely accepted part of the culture, corresponding to one of the highest rates of legaliZed gambling and gambling expenditure in the world. An alternative approach to the development of an instrument to detect people who have problems in relation to gambling is proposed.