L-Iskala ta ’Użu ta’ Divertiment bl-Internet Problematiku għall-Adolexxenti: Prevalenza ta ’Użu ta’ Problemi ta ’l-Internet fl-Istudenti Spanjoli ta’ l-Iskola Għolja (2012)

Comments: Study states that 5% of students, ages 12-18, have Internet addiction. It’s unclear what criteria researchers employed to assess IAD. Moreover the criteria were for “the presence of symptoms of behavioral addiction to online videogames and social networking sites“. Not a word about porn. IAD is much higher in male populations, yet this sample was equal numbers male/female.

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2012 Dic 19.

sors

Department of Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .

Astratt

Many researchers and professionals have reported nonsubstance vizzju to online entertainments in adolescents. However, very few scales have been designed to assess problem Internet use in this population, in spite of their high exposure and obvious vulnerability.

The aim of this study was to review the currently available scales for assessing problematic Internet use and to validate a new scale of this kind for use, specifically in this age group, the Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adolescents. The research was carried out in Spain in a gender-balanced sample of 1131 high school students aged bejn is-snin 12 u 18. Psychometric analyses showed the scale to be unidimensional, with excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.92), good construct validity, and positive associations with alternative measures of maladaptive Internet użu.

This self-administered scale can rapidly measure the presence of symptoms of behavioral vizzju to online videogames and social networking sites, as well as their degree of severity. The results estimate the prevalence of this problematic imġiba in Spanish adolescents to be around 5 percent.