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Pathological Gambling Adaptation of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS)
Availability
Please email the author for information about obtaining the instrument: Dr. Eric Hollander, eholland@montefiore.org
 
This instrument can be found: J. E. Grant, C. B. Donahue, & B. L. Odlaug (Eds.), Treating Impulse Control Disorders: a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program: Therapist Guide (pp. 109-112). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Classification
Supplemental: Parkinson's Disease (PD)
Short Description of Instrument
The Pathological Gambling version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (PG- YBOCS) was modified from the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) (Goodman, Price, Rasmussen, Mazure, Delgado, et al., 1989; Goodman, Price, Rasmussen, Mazure, Fleischmann, et al., 1989) The PG-YBOCS is a 10-item clinician-administered scale that measures the severity of pathological gambling within a set period of time (i.e., the past one / two week(s)) (Pallanti, DeCaria, Grant, Urpe, & Hollander, 2005; Pallanti, Grant, Urpe, & Hollander, 2011). Five questions (urge/thought subscale) access urges and thoughts associated with pathological gambling and five questions (behavior subscale) assess the behavioral component of the disorder (Pallanti et al., 2005). Both sets of questions address the time occupied by gambling, interference due to gambling, distress associated with gambling, resistance against gambling, and degree of control over gambling (Pallanti et al., 2005; Pallanti et al., 2011).
Comments/Special Instructions
This scale has been used in PD. It has reasonable clinimetrics, good internal consistency, is highly correlated with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), and may be helpful for rating severity. It is recommended as Supplemental since there is not a PD-specific measure for pathological gambling.
Scoring and Psychometric Properties
Scoring: Each item is scored 0 through 4. Scores are assigned according to the severity of the response with 0 = None, 1 = Mild, 2 = Moderate, 3 = Severe, and 4 = Extreme. The Total score is composed of the Urge/Thought Subscale Score plus the Behavior Subscale Score.
 
Psychometric Properties:
Reliability: Internal consistency was excellent with a Cronbach's alpha = 0.97. Cronbach's alpha for "gambling thoughts/urges" was 0.94 and for "gambling related behavior" was 0.93; Test-retest reliability for each item ranged from 0.29 to 0.56; Inter-rater reliability between 3 raters for total score (ICC) = 0.97
 
Validity: Convergent validity: Total PG-YBOCS score correlated with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) (r = 0.90)
 
Discriminate validity: PG-YBOCS did not correlate with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) (r = -.005) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) (r = 0.08); Sensitivity to change: Correlation between PG-YBOCS and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale (CGI) (r = -.69)
Rationale/Justification
Strengths: The PG-YBOCS shows adequate clinimetrics in non-PD populations and has been used in PD.
 
Weaknesses: This scale is not validated in PD but is good for severity rating. It is not a diagnostic tool.
References
Key Reference:
Pallanti S, DeCaria CM, Grant JE, Urpe M, Hollander E. Reliability and validity of the pathological gambling adaptation of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS). J Gambl Stud. 2005 Winter;21(4):431-43.
 
Additional References:
American Psychiatric Association. (2008). Handbook of psychiatric measures (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub.
 
Goodman WK, Price LH, Rasmussen SA, Mazure C, Delgado P, Heninger GR, Charney DS. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. II. Validity. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989 Nov;46(11):1012-6.
 
Goodman WK, Price LH, Rasmussen SA, Mazure C, Fleischmann RL, Hill CL, Heninger GR, Charney DS. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. I. Development, use, and reliability. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989 Nov;46(11):1006-11.
 
Hollander, E., Berlin, HA. (2008). Impulse control disorder measures. In a. J. Rush, M. B. First, & D. Blacker (Eds.), Handbook of Psychiatric Measures (2nd ed., pp. 667-686). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Press.
 
Hollander, E., DeCaria, C. (2008). Pathological gambling modification of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS). In A. J. Rush, M. B. First, & D. Blacker (Eds.), Handbook of Psychiatric Measures (2nd ed., pp. 677-678). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Press.
 
Pallanti, S., Grant, J.E., Urpe, M., Hollander, E. (2011). Pathological Gambling Adaptation of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS). In J. E. Grant, C. B. Donahue, & B. L. Odlaug (Eds.), Treating Impulse Control Disorders: a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program: Therapist Guide (pp. 109-112). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 
Document last updated August 2022