Psychometric Properties of the Italian Versions of the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and the Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ)

Abstract

Gambling urges and gambling refusal self-efficacy beliefs play a major role in the development and maintenance of problem gambling. This study aimed to translate the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and the Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ) from English to Italian (GUS-I, GRSEQ-I) and to test their factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, concurrent validity, and gender differences in 513 individuals from the Italian community. Factor structure and construct validity were tested through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, internal consistency through Cronbach's alpha, concurrent validity through correlations with gambling-related cognitions (GRCS-I), probable pathological gambling (SOGS-I), and gambling functioning (GFA-R-I). Results confirmed that the 6 items of the GUS-I load highly on one dimension of Gambling Urge, and each of the 26 items of the GRSEQ-I load highly on their relevant sub-dimension, among the following: situations/thoughts, drugs, positive emotions, negative emotions. Both scales are internally consistent and show concurrent validity with gambling-related cognitions, probable pathological gambling, and gambling functioning. Males score higher than females at the GUS-I; females score higher than males at the GRSEQ-I. The findings from the present study suggest that the GUS-I and the GRSEQ-I are internally consistent and valid scales for the assessment of gambling urges and gambling refusal self-efficacy in Italian individuals from the community, with significant repercussions in terms of assessment, prevention, and intervention.

A Gambling Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (GamblingLess: In-The-Moment): Protocol for a Microrandomized Trial

“…Addiction science has predominantly conceptualized self-efficacy in terms of perceived confidence to resist engaging in addictive behaviors in high-risk situations, but self-efficacy measures frame such resistance slightly differently, including confidence in controlling addictive behavior [45], resisting the urge to engage in addictive behavior [46], avoiding addictive behavior [47], refusing to engage in addictive behavior [48], or abstaining from addictive behavior [49]. Regardless of how resistance is framed, cross-sectional studies have consistently found that self-efficacy is negatively associated with both gambling behavior and problem gambling severity [22,23,45,47,[49][50][51][52][53] and accurately discriminates between nonproblem and problem gambling samples [48,52]. Qualitative research supports these findings, suggesting that self-efficacy is a key construct in preventing relapse, which in turn increases motivation and commitment to maintain abstinence over time; however, the protective effect of self-efficacy weakens once relapse has occurred [27,28].…”

“…Despite this conceptual confusion, the emerging cross-sectional literature highlights the important role that craving plays in the maintenance, exacerbation, and relapse of gambling problems. Specifically, findings suggest that gambling cravings are positively associated with problem gambling severity [ 22 , 23 ] and gambling relapse [ 24 ], negatively associated with abstinence [ 24 , 25 ], and are among the most frequent precipitants of relapse [ 26 ]. These findings are supported by qualitative research in which gambling cravings have been identified as a key construct associated with an increased risk of gambling relapse [ 27 , 28 ].…”