Table 1 Main characteristics of the scores and scales used as outcome measures
Outcome Measure | Description | Scale | Domain Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
BAI | Self-report inventory that provides an accurate measure of anxiety, searching for symptoms of anxiety during the past week. | 21 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 3 (severely). | Measure of anxiety severity. Higher total scores indicate more severe anxiety symptoms (score ≥ 26 indicates severe anxiety). |
BDI-II | Self-report instrument, based on DSM-IV, that provides a valid measure of depression, searching for how participants have been felling during the preceding 2 weeks. | 21 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 3 (severely). | Measure of depression severity (covering symptoms of depression, cognitions and physical symptoms). Higher total scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms (score ≥ 29 indicates severe depression). |
BSI | Self-report instrument which reflects the intensity of an individual’s mental health distress during the preceding week. Covers nine symptoms dimension (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism) and three global indices of distress: Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index, and Positive Symptom Total. | 53 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). | Measure psychological symptoms (symptomology, intensity of symptoms and number of reported symptoms). Higher total scores indicate more severe psychological symptoms. |
CPGI | Self-assessment instrument that measures problem gambling during the preceding year. Includes indicators of social and environmental context of gambling and problem gambling. | 31 items, where 9 items are scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 3 (severely). | Measures gambling severity. Higher total scores indicate more severe problem gambling (score ≥ 8 indicates problem gambler status). |
CSEI | Self-report questionnaire designed to measures the extent to which individuals customarily maintain a personal evaluation of competence, success, significance and worthiness. | 50 items scored using a dichotomous scale (“like me” vs “unlike me”). | Measures specific aspects of self-esteem, namely, general self, social self-peers, home parents, and professional. CSEI scores can range from 0 to 50, with higher scores reflecting higher self-esteem. |
DAS | Self-administered questionnaire that measures the quality of marital relationships and can be used for any committed relationship. | 32-items comprised of varying response scales. | Measures the relationship quality and comprises consensus, satisfaction, cohesion, and affectional expression. Higher total scores indicate less distress in relationship (score ≥ 114.8 indicates happily married couple). |
DASS | Self-report scales that measure the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress over the previous week. | 42 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 3 (severity/frequency). | Measure of depression, anxiety and stress. Higher total scores indicate more severe depression, anxiety or/and stress. |
DIG | Individual diagnostic instrument for pathological gambling. Consists primarily of 20 multiple-choice questions, two addressing each of the DSM-IV criteria. | 20 items, the total scored is assessed on a scale of 1–10. | Measures gambling severity. Higher total scores indicate more severe problem gambling (score ≥ 5 indicate pathological gambling status). |
GFS-SR | Self-report questionnaire that evaluate gambling behaviour, impairments in social life and personal impairments in patients diagnosed with GD according to the DSM-5 criteria. | 10 items scored on a scale value of 1 (severity) to 5 (not at all). | Assesses improvement in GD. Higher scores indicate greater improvement in gambling symptoms (scores ≥33 indicate recovery). |
Gamblers Inventory of Negative Consequences [29] | |||
GINC | Self-report instrument to assess negative consequences of gambling during the previous 3 months, adapted from Drinker Inventory of Negative Consequences. | 26 items rated on a scale 1 (never) to 7 (very often). | Measures negative consequences of gambling. Higher scores indicate more negative consequences of gambling. |
GRCS | Brief scale to screen the presence, nature and intensity of cognitive distortions among gamblers. | 23 items rated on a scale 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). | Evaluate gambling-related cognitive distortions. The higher the total score, the higher the number of gambling-related cognitions displayed. |
G-SAS | Self-report scale designed to assess gambling duration and urges, thoughts and preoccupations, control, emotional distress, and adverse personal consequences as a result of gambling. | 12 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). | Measures gambling symptoms. Higher scores indicate more severe symptoms (scores ≥40 indicate extremely severe symptoms). |
Gambling Urge Scale [32] | |||
GUS | Brief questionnaire based on the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire, measuring on a single factor the extent of gambling urge based on the participant’s self-reported thoughts and feelings. | 6 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 7(extremely). | Measures gambling urge. Higher scores indicate greater urges to gamble. |
MADRS | Diagnostic instrument used to assess depression symptoms (sadness, inner tension, less sleep and appetite, concentration difficulty, lassitude, inability to feel, pessimistic and suicidal thoughts) in patients with mood affective disorders. | 10 items rated on a scale 0 (not at all) to 6 (extremely). | Measure depression severity. Higher scores indicate more severe depression (scores ≥34 indicate severe depression). |
National Opinion Research Center DSM Screen for Gambling Problems [35,36,37] | |||
NODS | Screening measure based on DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling. | 34 items scored from 0 to 10. | Assess gambling disorder. Scores of 5 or higher indicate gambling disorder. |
Problem Gambling Severity Index [11] | |||
PGSI | Self-report measure of gambling behaviour over the previous 12 months. | 9 items scored on a scale value of 0 (never) to 3 (always). | Measures gambling severity. Higher scores indicate more severe problem gambling. Scores of 8 or higher indicate gambling disorder. |
Pathological Gambling – Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale [38, 39] | |||
PG-YBOCS | Clinician administered scale that rates gambling symptoms within the previous 7 days, comprising an urge/thought subscale and a behaviour subscale. | 10 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). | Measures gambling severity. Higher scores reflect greater illness severity. |
SOGS | Reliable instrument for screening populations for gambling problems, based on DSM-III criteria. | 20 items comprised of varying response scales. | Measure gambling severity. Higher scores reflect more severe gambling problems. Scores of 5 or higher indicate gambling disorder. |
STAI | Self-report scales for measuring state and trait anxiety, for diagnose anxiety and to distinguish it from depressive syndromes. | 40 items scored on a scale value of 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much so). | Measure anxiety. Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. |
STIC | Self-report instrument that assess individual, couple and family functioning and the alliance in family, couple, and individual therapy, in an integrative and multi-systemic perspective. | 6 system scale with a total of 134 items comprised of varying response scales + 3 alliance scales | Measure relationship functioning. Higher scores represent worse adjustment. |
The Gambling Timeline Followback [35] | |||
TLFB-G | Self-reported instrument that assess losses and days gambled in the previous 30 days, using the timeline followback methodology. | – | Measure gambling behaviour. Greater losses and days gambled indicate worse gambling behaviour. |
VGS | Three sub-scales of which the harm to self, others and the wider community is applied to determine problem gambling levels in the previous year. | 15 items scored on a scale value of 0 (never) to 4 (always). | Measure gambling problems. Higher scores indicate more severe gambling problems. Score of 21 or higher indicates a gambling problem. |