Reliability and validity of the modified Japanese version of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS)

Abstract

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) was originally developed to screen for pathological gamblers in clinical settings, and its use has been expanded to other settings such as prevalence studies of pathological gambling in general populations. There are few studies of pathological gambling in Japan, except for the two studies on the development of the modified Japanese version of the SOGS. The present study examines the reliability and validity of the modified Japanese version of the SOGS using two different groups: a university student group (N=96) and a gambler group (N=66). Analyses of the modified Japanese version of the SOGS showed that there was sufficient internal consistency (α= .898) and reliability. The modified Japanese version of the SOGS demonstrated satisfactory validity in differentiating the university student group from the gambler group.