The Gambling Risk Assessment: Scale Development In A Clinical Population Of Online Gamers

Background: Online gaming has become a serious concern and causing psychological impact on individuals similar to a disorder. There is an increasing risk of initiating online gambling following the excessive use of online games that involve spending money. This study aimed to develop and validate the gambling risk assessment scale within a clinical population of online gamers and to measure its reliability and validity.
Methods: Using the mixed-methods approach, it was planned into three phases. Phase I: The item generation was conducted to explore the perception of online gambling among online gamers. The online gambling perceptions among the participants were explored till the point of saturation in the responses. Phase II: Item generation led to the expert’s validation from 9 judges who have been working as an addiction professional with at least 10 years of experience in the field. The group of experts rated the items based on relevancy and clarity. The judges provided their suggestions and feedback during inter-rater reliability which further led to the pilot testing. Phase III: Afterwards, the data consisted of online gamers aged 15-25 years (N = 400) who were spending money on various online gaming services and playing more than 8 hours per day were collected to test psychometric properties including Chronbach’s Alpha reliability, split-half reliability, content validity, construct validity and divergent validity. 
Results: In exploratory factor analyses and Confirmatory factor analyses, factor structure with acceptable value was retained. Data collection for test-retest reliability was assessed after 3 weeks on 20% of the participants. The internal reliability of the scale was good and validity was also adequate.
Conclusion: The tool is specific to one context and may be measured to apply to different populations and settings with language translation. This study offers researchers, clinical practitioners, and policymakers a valuable tool for understanding the complex interplay between online gaming and online gambling as behavioural addictions. The results of this study provide valuable insights into the evaluation of risk for online gambling within the gaming community, shedding light on how these perceptions may relate to online gambling disorder as a consequence. In 2023 IRB approved the study and it was completed within 7 months.