Screening and Intervention

“Your First Step to Change” is a self-help guide for individuals thinking about changing their gambling behavior. Originally developed as a booklet in 2002 for callers to the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling’s help-line, the guide is available in Spanish, Chinese, Khmer and Vietnamese. Your First Step to Change was developed by the Division on Addiction and the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling with support from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the NCRG.

The Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance created the Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen (BBGS) to help people decide on their own whether to seek a formal evaluation of their gambling behavior. Released in 2011, this 3-item survey is based on the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for pathological gambling.

Adolescents can exhibit a gambling disorder or gambling addiction, but experts argue that the signs and symptoms are displayed in a manner different than adults.

A small number of assessment instruments for gambling disorders have been developed specifically for youth - many are adaptations of adult instruments. There are four commonly used youth problem gambling instruments: