The development and initial testing of the Internet Consequences Scales (ICONS)

The Internet has become a tool for everyday use in the lives of many people; however, little is known about the consequences of using the Internet on the well-being of individuals. This article describes the development of the Internet Consequences Scale (ICONS), a tool to measure the physical, behavioral, economic, and psychosocial consequences of Internet use. Content validity was established using a panel of experts in Internet communications, and construct validity was established using a confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability of the ICONS was established statistically using Cronbach's alpha. The result was a 44-item tool containing four subscales to measure the consequences of Internet use.