Psychiatry Res. 2012 Mar 2. [Epub ahead of print]
Assessing the psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) in UScollege students.
Source
Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States; Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States.
Abstract
Internet addiction is a growing concern; however, both a clear understanding of the mechanisms driving problematic behaviors and a gold standard instrument for assessing symptoms are lacking. The purpose of this study was to perform a psychometric analysis of the most widely used screening instrument, the Young Internet Addiction Test (IAT), using a sample of US college students. 215 (70% response rate) undergraduate college students were recruited from two US universities to complete an online version of the IAT. Using exploratory factor analysis, two factors were extracted, "dependent use" and "excessive use" which together explained 91% of the total variance. Participants who scored into the problematic user category of the IAT scored items on the dependent use scale an average of 0.8±1.5 points higher and items on the excessive use scale an average of 1.4±1.5 points higher than participants who scored in the average user category. Results suggest that Internet addiction symptoms may cluster into two separate components, dependent and excessive use. Further, the IAT appears to be a valid instrument for assessing Internet addiction in US college students.
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