Psychometric Properties of Three Simplified Chinese Online-Related Addictive Behavior Instruments Among Mainland Chinese Primary School Students

• Published in: Frontiers in psychiatry Vol. 11; p. 875
• Main Authors: Chen, I-Hua, Ahorsu, Daniel Kwasi, Pakpour, Amir H., Griffiths, Mark D., Lin, Chung-Ying, Chen, Chao-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 03.09.2020
• Subjects: child technology use; gaming addiction; Psychiatry; psychometrics; smartphone addiction; social media addiction; social media addiction; psychometrics; child technology use; smartphone addiction; gaming addiction
• ISSN: 1664-0640; 1664-0640
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00875

There 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. Fourth 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. The findings demonstrated that the three scales (Cronbach's = 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. The 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.