Psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of Internet Disorder Scale–IDS-15

Žmavc, M, Pontes, HM, Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524 and Selak, Š, 2022. Psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of Internet Disorder Scale–IDS-15. PLOS ONE, 17 (10): e0276663. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Background: Conceptualising internet addiction and assessing its symptoms has presented a significant challenge for researchers over the past 25 years. Recently, the Internet Disorder Scale (IDS-15), which is based on the criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) from DSM-5, has emerged as a promising instrument to assess internet addiction. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Slovenian IDS-15.

Methods: The sample was recruited from the National Survey on the Use of Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs that was conducted in 2018 on a nationally representative sample (N  =  16,000; age range: 15–64 years; 62.4% response rate). The final sample comprised 9,161 participants, with 80.9% reporting having used the internet at least once a week (n  =  7,413). A structured questionnaire was designed and internet addiction was assessed using the IDS-15.

Results: Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed acceptable fit to the proposed four-factor structure of the IDS-15. The reliability, and criterion, convergent and discriminant validity were also found to be adequate with a notable exception of the first item of the scale, as shown by its lower factor loading and higher variability. Additionally, latent profile analysis was used to distinguish between internet users with low (n = 3,818; 51.5%), medium (n = 3,111; 42.0%) and high (n = 484; 6.4%) addiction risk. Furthermore, the high-risk class was associated with higher IDS-15 factor scores, higher frequency of internet use in leisure time, and lower age of first internet use.

Conclusions: The present study provides new insights about the strengths and shortcomings of the IDS-15. Moreover, the results provide an insight into the prevalence of internet addiction in Slovenia, as well as associations with other potential factors. The results serve as the basis for further analyses on internet addiction epidemiology, policymaking activities, and design for targeted public health interventions in Slovenia.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	PLOS ONE
Creators:	Žmavc, M., Pontes, H.M., Griffiths, M.D. and Selak, Š.
Publisher:	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date:	21 October 2022
Volume:	17
Number:	10
ISSN:	1932-6203
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1371/journal.pone.0276663 DOI 1612894 Other
Rights:	© 2022 Žmavc et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	24 Oct 2022 08:18
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 08:18
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/47295

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