Motivation to change and pathological gambling: Analysis of the relationship with clinical and psychopathological variables

Objectives. The present study analyses the internal factor structure of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) Scale in pathological gambling (PG). The scale's association with the clinical profile of patients is also evaluated. Method. The factor analysis was based on a sample of 531 men with a DSM-IV diagnosis of pathological gambling. The statistical analysis included confirmatory factor analysis and linear correlation. Results. The analyses confirmed the internal structure obtained for the URICA. The internal consistency was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha between.74 and.85). The association between URICA scores and the socio-demographic and clinical profile of patients ranged between moderate and weak (R coefficients below.30). Lower motivation was present in 28.4% of cases and it was associated with shorter duration of the disorder, lower severity of the PG symptoms, and high psychopathology. Conclusions. The results support the validity and reliability of the URICA in a Spanish clinical population of pathological gamblers. © 2010 The British Psychological Society.