Korean Validation of the Internet Gaming Disorder-20 Test

Since "Internet gaming disorder (IGD)" was included as a tentative disorder in Section III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5), more efforts have been undertaken to provide standardized assessment tools. Among the recently proposed measures of IGD, the IGD-20 (IGD-20) Test was designed to encompass the nine IGD criteria of the DSM-5, and it was subsequently validated into other languages. The present study aimed to validate the Korean version of the IGD-20 Test. In total, 1,403 Korean online game users were recruited for a self-report survey comprising the Korean IGD-20 (K-IGD-20) Test and other measures, including demographics and playing variables. The K-IGD-20 Test had good reliability, and a confirmatory factor analysis revealed six factors, consistent with the original scale. Moreover, the K-IGD-20 Test demonstrated appropriate concurrent and convergent validity with other measures of Internet (game) addiction and psychological problems. Overall, the present results indicate that the K-IGD-20 Test could be used as a reliable and valid tool in IGD research on Korean-speaking populations. Furthermore, this adds empirical evidence to continue the cross-cultural validation of the IGD-20 Test, which could contribute to a more unified, integrative approach in IGD research worldwide.