Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)
The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) is a nine-question self-report screen that scores your gambling over the past 12 months on a scale from 0 to 27. Ferris and Wynne developed it in 2001 for surveys of the general population rather than for clinical diagnosis. In Ireland it sits behind the ESRI estimate that 3.3% of adults, roughly 1 in 30, experience problem gambling.
How the PGSI score is calculated
Each of the nine questions offers four answers: never scores 0, sometimes 1, most of the time 2 and almost always 3. The questions cover chasing losses, betting more than you can afford, borrowing to gamble, guilt and financial strain on your household.
You add the nine answers together. Under the original Ferris and Wynne bands, 0 is non-problem gambling, 1 to 2 is low risk, 3 to 7 is moderate risk and 8 or more is problem gambling.
Answer sometimes to four questions and never to the rest, and you land on 4: moderate risk.
That example shows why the bands need a caveat. Currie and colleagues proposed revised cut-offs in 2013, with low risk at 1 to 4 and moderate risk at 5 to 7, so the same score of 4 reads as low risk on some tools. Check which bands a calculator uses before you read anything into the label.
Where you meet the PGSI and its limits
You mostly meet the PGSI in national surveys and self-test pages from support services. Some operators link to similar quizzes from their responsible gambling pages, though practice varies and the questions are not always the full nine.
It is a screen, not a diagnosis.
People often confuse it with gambling disorder as defined in DSM-5-TR, which a clinician assesses. A score of 8 or more is a signal to seek a proper assessment and, in the meantime, to use the deposit limits, cooling-off and self-exclusion tools your operator already offers.
