Assessment of reliability and validity of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS)

This research sought to assess the reliability and validity of Raylu and Oei's (2004) widely used Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS). Two samples were used in this study. In the 'teenage sample,' 2,000 teenagers, aged 15-19, completed a web-based survey containing questions related to a host of gambling-related issues, including GRCS. The 'university sample' comprised of 764 international students and 836 domestic students sampled from three universities in Australia. Our research used the same items as those utilized by Raylu and Oei (2004). After our exploratory factor analysis of the scale items yielded two factors for both samples, we tried to fit the five-factor model of GRCS to both datasets. Despite trying various approaches to achieve model fit, our data did not provide any evidence of the five factors underlying GRCS. However, the scale exhibited excellent concurrent validity and internal reliability across both samples. This research corroborates Taylor et al.'s (2013) suggestion that external independent validation of the GRCS is needed before it can be applied for diagnosis or treatment purposes, particularly among younger people.