Assessing the factor structure of the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM)

Cong Mou; Eamonn Ferguson; Richard J. Tunney; Richard J. E. James

doi:10.1080/14459795.2025.2481846

Assessing the factor structure of the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM)

Cong Mou
, Eamonn Ferguson
, Richard J. Tunney
, Richard J. E. James

University of Nottingham
Nottingham Trent University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

13 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM) is widely used to assess problem gambling, showing strong correspondence between population surveys and clinical interviews. However, the literature on its factor structure is limited. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to identify the optimal structural model of the PPGM. Data from the Finnish Gambling Harm Survey (2016, n = 3218; 2017, n = 1250) were used. Five models were compared on fit indices, reliability, and criterion validity, including gambling frequency, expenditure, and harm. The models included one-factor, two-factor, three-factor, two-factor with correlated residuals, and bifactor models. Results supported a two-factor model comprising dependence and harm, with adjustments for two items with correlated residuals. The bifactor model had similar fit levels but poorer reliability and replicability. Permutation tests did not support distinguishing between impaired control and other addictive issues. The models showed stronger associations with gambling harm than gambling behavior (expenditure, intensity, breadth). The study concludes that the two-factor model of the PPGM, measuring harm and dependence, is valid, and scores on these factors can serve as quantitative indices of general severity, dependence, and harm.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	307-322
Number of pages	16
Journal	International Gambling Studies
Volume	25
Issue number	2
Early online date	28 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2025.2481846
Publication status	Published - 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) orwith their consent.

Data Access Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Finnish Social Science DataArchive at https://services.fsd.tuni.fi/catalogue/index?lang=en&study_language=en reference number [FSD3261] and [FSD3384]. The analysis code and output are publicly available on GitHubat https://github.com/SolaCloud/PPGM-internal-structure-project.

Keywords

PPGM
CFA
permutation
gambling harm
behavioral dependence
model fit

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10.1080/14459795.2025.2481846Licence: CC BY 4.0

Assessing the factor structure of the problem and pathological gambling measure PPGM
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) orwith their consent.
Final published version, 2.45 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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abstract = "The Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM) is widely used to assess problem gambling, showing strong correspondence between population surveys and clinical interviews. However, the literature on its factor structure is limited. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to identify the optimal structural model of the PPGM. Data from the Finnish Gambling Harm Survey (2016, n = 3218; 2017, n = 1250) were used. Five models were compared on fit indices, reliability, and criterion validity, including gambling frequency, expenditure, and harm. The models included one-factor, two-factor, three-factor, two-factor with correlated residuals, and bifactor models. Results supported a two-factor model comprising dependence and harm, with adjustments for two items with correlated residuals. The bifactor model had similar fit levels but poorer reliability and replicability. Permutation tests did not support distinguishing between impaired control and other addictive issues. The models showed stronger associations with gambling harm than gambling behavior (expenditure, intensity, breadth). The study concludes that the two-factor model of the PPGM, measuring harm and dependence, is valid, and scores on these factors can serve as quantitative indices of general severity, dependence, and harm.",

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AB - The Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM) is widely used to assess problem gambling, showing strong correspondence between population surveys and clinical interviews. However, the literature on its factor structure is limited. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to identify the optimal structural model of the PPGM. Data from the Finnish Gambling Harm Survey (2016, n = 3218; 2017, n = 1250) were used. Five models were compared on fit indices, reliability, and criterion validity, including gambling frequency, expenditure, and harm. The models included one-factor, two-factor, three-factor, two-factor with correlated residuals, and bifactor models. Results supported a two-factor model comprising dependence and harm, with adjustments for two items with correlated residuals. The bifactor model had similar fit levels but poorer reliability and replicability. Permutation tests did not support distinguishing between impaired control and other addictive issues. The models showed stronger associations with gambling harm than gambling behavior (expenditure, intensity, breadth). The study concludes that the two-factor model of the PPGM, measuring harm and dependence, is valid, and scores on these factors can serve as quantitative indices of general severity, dependence, and harm.

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Assessing the factor structure of the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Access Statement

Keywords

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