Abstract
Background/ObjectiveThere are inadequate screening instruments for assessing specific internet-related addictions among mainland Chinese primary school students. Therefore, the present study validated the psychometric properties of three simplified Chinese online-related addictive behavior instruments among mainland Chinese primary school students.MethodFourth to sixth graders (n = 1108; 48.3% males; mean [SD] age = 10.37 years [0.95]) completed the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scales-Short Form (IGDS-SF9), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS) in a classroom. The factorial structures and the unidimensionality of the three scales were examined using confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). Measurement invariance of the three scales was examined using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFAs) across gender.ResultsThe findings demonstrated that the three scales (Cronbach’s α = 0.73 to 0.84) had unidimensional structure as supported by satisfactory fit indices (comparative fit index = 0.98 to 1.00). The MGCFA findings indicated that the unidimensional structures of the three scales were invariant across gender.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that the three simplified Chinese scales (IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS) are valid instruments for assessing online-related addictive behaviors among mainland Chinese primary school students irrespective of their gender.
Highlights
Internet use has become an important part in individuals’ daily lives, especially during the past decade given the rapid growth of modern technology
All the fit indices used in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the unidimensional structure for IGDS-SF9, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Smartphone ApplicationBased Addiction Scale (SABAS)
Cronbach’s a was satisfactory in all three scales: a = 0.84 for IGDS-SF9; 0.73 for BSMAS; and 0.81 for SABAS
Summary
Internet use has become an important part in individuals’ daily lives, especially during the past decade given the rapid growth of modern technology. With the emergence of new technologies, internet accessibility and the availability via Wi-Fi enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desk computers have become widespread This technological advancement has eliminated geographical barriers between people by facilitating communication, business transactions, online games, online shopping, and other forms of entertainment [1]. It has further been reported that in China (where the present study was carried out) there is a pooled internet addiction prevalence rate of 7.5% among Chinese adolescents [10] and approximately 11% among college students [11]. These rates were higher in males than in females [11, 12]. There is a need for effective measures to prevent further internet addiction
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