The Berlin Inventory of Gambling behavior \u2013 Screening (BIG-S): Validation using a clinical sample

Martin Wejbera,Kai W Müller,Manfred E Beutel,Jan Becker

doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1349-4

Abstract

BackgroundPublished diagnostic questionnaires for gambling disorder in German are either based on DSM-III criteria or focus on aspects other than life time prevalence. This study was designed to assess the usability of the DSM-IV criteria based Berlin Inventory of Gambling Behavior Screening tool in a clinical sample and adapt it to DSM-5 criteria.MethodsIn a sample of 432 patients presenting for behavioral addiction assessment at the University Medical Center Mainz, we checked the screening tool’s results against clinical diagnosis and compared a subsample of n=300 clinically diagnosed gambling disorder patients with a comparison group of n=132.ResultsThe BIG-S produced a sensitivity of 99.7% and a specificity of 96.2%. The instrument’s unidimensionality and the diagnostic improvements of DSM-5 criteria were verified by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis as well as receiver operating characteristic analysis.ConclusionsThe BIG-S is a reliable and valid screening tool for gambling disorder and demonstrated its concise and comprehensible operationalization of current DSM-5 criteria in a clinical setting.

Highlights

Published diagnostic questionnaires for gambling disorder in German are either based on DSM-III criteria or focus on aspects other than life time prevalence
Pathological gambling has been defined as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) [1]
Most of the BIG-S items were affirmed by the vast majority of the clinically diagnosed gambling disorder patients

Summary

Introduction

Published diagnostic questionnaires for gambling disorder in German are either based on DSM-III criteria or focus on aspects other than life time prevalence. The classification and diagnostic criteria of pathological gambling have undergone revisions since . In DSM-IV [2], pathological gambling criteria were revised and closely resembled those of substance dependence. It was still categorized as an impulse control disorder. Studies showed that the elimination of one criterion (‘illegal activities to finance gambling’) and lowering the threshold for a diagnosis from 5 to 4 fulfilled criteria improved classification accuracy [3,4,5]. In DSM-5 [6], the name was changed to “gambling disorder”, the criterion referring to illegal activities omitted, the cut-off for diagnosis lowered to 4 fulfilled

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