Validity and reliability assessment of the Brazilian version of the game addiction scale (GAS)

Abstract

BackgroundThe uncontrolled use of video games can be addictive. The Game Addiction Scale (GAS) is an instrument that was developed to assess this type of addiction. The GAS consists of 21 items that are divided into the following seven factors: salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, conflict and problems. This study assessed the convergent validity and reliability of the GAS according to measures of internal consistency and test–retest stability. Material and methodsThree hundred and eighty four students completed the GAS, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Video Game Addiction Test (VAT). A subgroup of the participants (n=76) completed the GAS again after 30days to determine test–retest stability. ResultsThe GAS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.92), was highly correlated with the VAT (r=0.883) and was moderately correlated with the BDI (r=0.358), the LSAS (r=0.326) and the IAT (r=0.454). ConclusionIn the Brazilian Portuguese population, the GAS shows good internal consistency. These data indicate that the GAS can be used to assess video game addiction due to its demonstrated psychometric validity.