A Clinical Screener for Compulsive Buying

Abstract

Advancements in understanding problematic behaviors require the ability to identify affected or at-risk individuals. This article reports the development of a scale to identify compulsive buyers. Seven items representing specific behaviors, motivations, and feelings associated with buying significantly contributed to correctly classifying approximately 88 percent of the subjects. Evidence indicates this screening scale is unidimensional and possesses good reliability. Validity is demonstrated by comparing members of a general consumer sample who are identified as compulsive buyers by the screener with self-identified compulsive buyers and noncompulsive consumers on several established correlates and outcomes of compulsive buying. Evidence of external validity using a separate sample is also presented.