Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- Never
- Most of the time
- Sometimes
- Almost always
- Never
- Most of the time
- Sometimes
- Almost always
- Never
- Most of the time
- Sometimes
- Almost always
Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) Test - Description and methodology of the test
People who want to understand whether gambling has begun to affect money, emotions, health, or relationships can use the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) Test as a structured self-check. It is intended for anyone reflecting on their own gambling and its consequences. As a problem gambling assessment, it organizes gambling experiences and consequences, including past-year and lifetime situations, into a risk result that can help clarify whether further attention may be warranted.
What the Questionnaire Measures
Questions cover gambling beyond affordable limits, increasing stakes, chasing losses, borrowing or selling to obtain money, and recognizing a possible problem. They also ask about criticism, stress or anxiety, household finances, and guilt, so the result considers both gambling behavior and its personal, social, and financial consequences.
The gambling risk assessment uses one displayed scale, Problem Gambling Risk (0–21), which estimates the level of risk for developing gambling-related problems. Its result bands are:
- Low risk (0–2) indicates no negative consequences are reflected in the score.
- Moderate risk (3–7) suggests potential risk and a reason to look more closely at current gambling.
- Problem gambling (8–21) indicates significant difficulty controlling gambling and may justify further assessment.
The profile suits people reflecting on their own gambling, whether concerns involve money, control, emotions, or other consequences.
Methodology and Scientific Basis
Nine items cover gambling experiences and consequences, including past-year and lifetime situations. Their content corresponds to the nine-item Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) component associated with the broader CPGI framework. Choices—Never, Most of the time, Sometimes, and Almost always—record frequency; some carry numerical labels. Answers form a total, but labels do not reveal contributions, so weights cannot be inferred.
The closest source is Ferris and Wynne's 2001 report. This online gambling questionnaire is a self-report presentation distinct from the published CPGI; its content is conceptually consistent with the nine-item PGSI, not an adaptation of it. Currie, Hodgins, and Casey (2013) studied the related scale's interpretive categories; Miller, Currie, Hodgins, and Casey (2013) studied its factor structure and Rasch properties. These studies do not establish independent standardization or validation of this digital presentation.
Interpret the result as self-reported risk, not complete gambling severity. Memory, stress, disclosure, and self-awareness affect answers. It is not a diagnosis or standalone measure of need; significant consequences or a high result can prompt broader assessment.
- Ferris, J., & Wynne, H. (2001). The Canadian Problem Gambling Index: Final Report. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Consortium for Gambling Research, submitted for the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.
- Currie, S. R., Hodgins, D. C., & Casey, D. M. (2013). Validity of the Problem Gambling Severity Index interpretive categories. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29(2), 311–327. 10.1007/s10899-012-9300-6
- Miller, N. V., Currie, S. R., Hodgins, D. C., & Casey, D. (2013). Validation of the Problem Gambling Severity Index using confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch modelling. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 22(3), 245–255. 10.1002/mpr.1392
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