A review of two measures of pathological gambling in the United States

This paper addresses a debate that has emerged in the field of pathological gambling research. This debate concerns measurement of the prevalence of pathological gambling in the general population. Two instruments have been used to measure prevalence in the United States, the South Oaks Gambling Screen and the Cumulative Clinical Signs Method. These instruments are described and several problems with the statistical properties of the Cumulative Clinical Signs Method are discussed. The authors conclude with a call for continued research in the area of prevalence studies of pathological gambling.This research was partly funded by the Antisocial and Violent Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-44295).The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Henry J. Steadman, Ph.D. to the initial formulation of the ideas presented here.