| Name: | Gambling Craving Scale | ||
| Acronym: | GACS | ||
| Year: | 2009 | ||
| Developer: | Young, Matthew M. | Wohl, Michael J.A. | ||
| Description: | Craving to gamble consists of the anticipation of enjoyment from wagering as well as an expectation of relief from negative affect that would be derived from engaging in play. The GACS is a multidimensional measure of gambling-related craving. It is a 9-item scale with three factors (Anticipation, Desire, and Relief) that predict problem gambling severity, depression, and postive and negative affect. These three factors are moderately intercorrelated, suggesting that the GACS is composed of three related but meaningfully different factors of an underlying construct, namely, craving to gamble. As persistent gambling in the face of repeated loss is a defining characteristic of pathological gambling, the association between persistence and craving as measured by the GACS lends support to the predictive validity of this new scale. The GACS may be especially useful for treatment providers regarding the nature of patients' craving and it might help treatment providers understand the contexts that precipitate craving. | ||
| Population: | Gamblers | ||
| Instrument Type: | Screening | ||
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| Other Resources: | ADAI Library Search: Gambling Craving Scale (GACS) | ||
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| Availability: | Copyright information unavailable. | ||
| Contact Information: | Matthew M. Young Department of Psychology Carleton University 1125 Colonel By Drive, B550 Loeb Building Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6 email: mmyoung@connect.carleton.ca | ||
| Related Instruments: | |||
| Administration/Scoring: | Participants respond to questions using a 7-point scale anchored at 1 (strongly disagree) and 7 (strongly agree). | ||
| Validity/Reliability: | The GACS demonstrated a high degree of concurrent validity as it was positively associated with problem gambling severity, problematic gambling-related cognitions, affect, and depression. | ||