Developing a shorter version of the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (E-SAPS18)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to develop a shorter version of the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale based on previous works (e.g., Ching et al., 2015; Kwon, Lee, et al., 2013; Rozgonjuk, Rosenvald, & Täht, 2016). Seven hundred and sixty-seven people participated in the study (Mage = 26.10 ± 6.73 years; 22% male), for which they completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale (E-SAS-33; Rozgonjuk, Rosenvald, & Täht, 2016), the Estonian Internet Addiction Test (E-IAT; based on Young, 1998), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS; Kwon, Lee, et al., 2013). Exploratory factor analysis (maximum likelihood with geomin rotation) and confirmatory factor analysis (parameter estimation: maximum likelihood), an internal-consistency test, t- tests for mean comparisons, correlation analysis and experts’ opinions were used to shorten the E-SAS-33 and validate a new version of the scale. The results of the analyses showed that the 18-item test with five subscales (“tolerance”, “positive anticipation”, “cyberspace-oriented relationships”, “withdrawal”, and “physical symptoms” ) has sound psychometric properties and that the content of the subscales is similar to the original. Among the results, statistically significant differences in E-SAPS18 scores were found in gender, age, level of education, smartphone main use and self-reported addiction. Furthermore, correlates suggest that smartphone addiction, social media use, and Internet addiction might share a similar underlying mechanism.