Comparing the Japanese Version of the Gambling Functional Assessment a€“ Revised to an American Sample

摘要

Abstract The Gambling Functional Assessment a€“ Revised (GFA-R) was developed to determine the degree to which gambling behaviour was maintained by positive reinforcement or escape. For this study, the GFA-R was translated into Japanese and completed by 126 Japanese university students, who also completed the Japanese version of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Their results were compared to those from 133 American university students. All respondents endorsed gambling for positive reinforcement to a greater extent than as an escape. For both samples, the factor structure for the original GFA-R adequately fit the data, and internal consistency measures were very good. SOGS scores correlated more strongly with gambling as an escape than for positive reinforcement. The Japanese version of the GFA-R may be a useful research tool in a variety of ways, and may be helpful for practitioners in Japan interested in knowing the contingency maintaining their client's gambling behaviour.