ArticleHarm reduction journal2026
Measuring gambling harm in self-reported questionnaires: a scoping review.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis review aims to examine how gambling harms are measured by mapping existing self-report measures, analyzing methodologies for scoring gambling harms, and identifying key gaps to inform future research and practice. STUDY
designScoping review.
methodsThe scoping review coded data from 131 studies, analyzing harm measures, corresponding scoring methods, sample-related variables, and associated measures.
results(1) This review identified 41 distinct instruments used to measure gambling-related harm over the past two decades, encompassing gambling harm-specific surveys, problem gambling screening tools, custom questionnaires, and questionnaires on harm to affected others. (2) The current landscape reveals that most surveys capture only a subset of harm domains, with dichotomous scoring methods being widely used. (3) Additionally, harm measurement has been largely dominated by a few well-validated instruments, with criterion variables primarily focused on problem gambling severity, gambling engagement, and health-related constructs, and mainly delivered in the global north.
conclusionsThis review highlights discrepancies between conceptual frameworks and real-world practices in the measurement of gambling harm, exposing critical gaps in quantification that have implications for policy decisions, clinical assessments, and public health management. It also questions the generalizability of existing measures to non-WEIRD populations. Future research should prioritize rigorous domain selection, refinement of assessment items, and improvements in quantification methods to better serve the needs of policymakers, researchers, and clinicians. Additionally, establishing cross-cultural validity and utility of gambling harm measures outside of WEIRD contexts is also essential.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.