Psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test in Turkish

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Internet Addiction Research

Background:

• Internet addiction is a growing concern among university students.
• The original Internet Addiction Test (IAT) requires cultural and linguistic adaptation for diverse populations.
• Validating psychometric instruments is crucial for accurate assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) into the Turkish language.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Turkish IAT.
• To ensure the suitability of the Turkish IAT for assessing internet dependency in Turkish university students.

Main Methods:

• The study involved 990 undergraduate students from Turkish public universities.
• Two phases were conducted: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).
• EFA identified an initial factor structure, which CFA then verified.

Main Results:

• Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a four-factor structure explaining 46.02% of the variance.
• Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the satisfactory fit of this four-factor model.
• The identified factors were named: Mood, Relationship, Responsibilities, and Duration.

Conclusions:

• The Turkish version of the IAT demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties for use with Turkish undergraduate students.
• The validated four-factor structure provides a robust framework for assessing internet addiction.
• This adaptation facilitates reliable measurement of internet dependency in a new cultural context.