Gambling Questionnaire

Recognizing Gambling-related Problems

Brief screens can help people decide whether to seek formal evaluation of their gambling behavior. You can find one recent screen, the Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen (BBGS)1, below. The 3-item BBGS is based on the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for pathological gambling.

During the past 12 months, have you become restless irritable or anxious when trying to stop/cut down on gambling?
During the past 12 months, have you tried to keep your family or friends from knowing how much you gambled?
During the past 12 months did you have such financial trouble as a result of your gambling that you had to get help with living expenses from family, friends or welfare?

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions, please consider contacting your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 408-241-7772 to schedule a free and confidential counseling appointment. Up to five (5) counseling sessions are available to County employees and their eligible family members on a calendar year basis. EAP looks forward to hearing from you.

Source: Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

¹Gebauer, L., LaBrie, R. A., Shaffer, H. J. (2010). Optimizing DSM IV classification accuracy: a brief bio-social screen for detecting current gambling disorders among gamblers in the general household population. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(2), 82-90.