The Turkish Adaptation Study of the Digital Addiction Scale For Children: A Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

Objective: The study was conducted to perform the Turkish validity and reliability study of the Digital Addiction Scale for Children (DASC). Methods: The study was completed with 259 students (primary school 4th grade, secondary school 5th, 6th, and 7th grades). The research data were analyzed by transferring them to Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 25 and Amos 22.0.0.0 package programs. In the validity and reliability analyses of the scale, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha), and test-retest were performed to determine the internal consistency of the factors. Results: The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was found to be 0.941 as a result of EFA, and the following fit indices were obtained as a result of CFA; χ²/sd: 2.258, (RMSEA): 0.07, Comparative Fit Index (CFI): 0.907, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): 0.049. Cronbach's alpha value of the overall 25-item scale was found to be 0.946. As a result of the test-retest, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was identified as 0.938 for the overall scale. Conclusion: It was found that the DASC was a valid and reliable measurement tool that could assess the level of digital addiction in Turkish children aged 9-12.