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Italian Adolescent Gambling Behaviour: Psychometric Evaluation of the South Oaks Gambling Screen: Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) Among a Sample of Italian Students

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Abstract

Since no Italian validated instrument focuses specifically on the measurement of pathological gambling in very young people, with this study, we aim to adapt an international instrument (SOGS-RA) and assess its psychometric properties in a sample (n = 14.910) of young Italian students aged between 15 and 19 years. Cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument was performed through translation, synthesis of translation, back-translation, expert committee review, and pre-testing. The kappa statistic for test–retest concordance ranged from 0.53 to 0.80. Internal validity was assessed by the MCA that identified one principal component with eigenvalue equal to 3,875: the Divgi index and very simple structure analysis also pointed out one common factor, so uni-dimensionality of the SOGS-RA was accepted. Moreover the SOGS-RA was found to have acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.780). Cronbach’s alpha was also assessed separately among males and females (respectively 0.786 and 0.707). The SOGS-RA was assessed in relation to gambling frequency, alcohol and drug use: Chi squared test revealed a strong association both for males and females with gambling frequency (p value ≤ 0.0001), frequent use of illicit drugs (for each drug p value ≤ 0.0001) and having had 3 or more occasions of binge drinking in the last month (p value ≤ 0.0001). At the end we can say that, the results of our study suggest that the SOGS-RA screen may be useful to assess at-risk or problem gambling for both genders in comprehensive youth surveys.

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Correspondence to Sabrina Molinaro.

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Colasante, E., Gori, M., Bastiani, L. et al. Italian Adolescent Gambling Behaviour: Psychometric Evaluation of the South Oaks Gambling Screen: Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) Among a Sample of Italian Students. J Gambl Stud 30, 789–801 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-013-9385-6

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