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. 2022 Mar;117(3):784-795.
doi: 10.1111/add.15709. Epub 2021 Oct 24.

Cross-national validation of the social media disorder scale: findings from adolescents from 44 countries

Maartje Boer  1 , Regina J J M van den Eijnden  1 , Catrin Finkenauer  1 , Meyran Boniel-Nissim  2 , Claudia Marino  3 , Jo Inchley  4 , Alina Cosma  5   6 , Leena Paakkari  7 , Gonneke W J M Stevens  1
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Cross-national validation of the social media disorder scale: findings from adolescents from 44 countries

Maartje Boer et al. Addiction. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Background and aims: There is currently no cross-national validation of a scale that measures problematic social media use (SMU). The present study investigated and compared the psychometric properties of the social media disorder (SMD) scale among young adolescents from different countries.

Design: Validation study.

Setting and participants: Data came from 222 532 adolescents from 44 countries participating in the health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC) survey (2017/2018). The HBSC survey was conducted in the European region and Canada. Participants were on average aged 13.54 years (standard deviation = 1.63) and 51.24% were girls.

Measurement: Problematic SMU was measured using the nine-item SMD scale with dichotomous response options.

Findings: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) showed good model fit for a one-factor model across all countries (minimum comparative fit index (CFI) and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.963 and 0.951, maximum root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.057 and 0.060), confirming structural validity. The internal consistency of the items was adequate in all countries (minimum alpha = 0.840), indicating that the scale provides reliable scores. Multi-group CFA showed that the factor structure was measurement invariant across countries (ΔCFI = -0.010, ΔRMSEA = 0.003), suggesting that adolescents' level of problematic SMU can be reliably compared cross-nationally. In all countries, gender and socio-economic invariance was established, and age invariance was found in 43 of 44 countries. In line with prior research, in almost all countries, problematic SMU related to poorer mental wellbeing (range βSTDY = 0.193-0.924, P < 0.05) and higher intensity of online communication (range βSTDY = 0.163-0.635, P < 0.05), confirming appropriate criterion validity.

Conclusions: The social media disorder scale appears to be suitable for measuring and comparing problematic social media use among young adolescents across many national contexts.

Keywords: Adolescents; HBSC; international validation; problematic social media use; psychometric tests; social media addiction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of the sum-score of the social media disorder scale, pooled sample n = 222 532. SMU = social media use
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