Exploratory Factor Analysis of Young's Internet Addiction Test Among Professionals from India: An Online Survey

Internet use has spread across the world due to easy accessibility and affordability. However, it has been creating many problems at several levels. So, there is a need to identify the suitability of psychometric properties and the factor structure of the widely used Internet Addiction Test (IAT) in the Indian settings. Our objective was to perform an exploratory factor analysis on the IAT and to test the reliability of the scale.

It was a cross-sectional study that included various professional groups. We used an online questionnaire that included sociodemographic details and Young's IAT. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the factor structure of Young's IAT in the Indian setup.

The mean age of the sample (N = 1,782) was 27.7 years (SD = 8.74) with a predominantly male population 1040 (58.4%). In total, 1.0% (17) of the sample had significant problems with internet usage, whereas 13% (232) were in the range of frequent/occasional problems, and the mean score on IAT was 32 (SD = 16.42). Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors that explained 49% of the variance (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy: 0.95, Bartlett's test of sphericity: P = 0.000). They were "mood and relationship issues" and "duration and productivity." Cronbach's α was 0.92, which indicates a high level of internal consistency.

In Indian settings, IAT can be understood based on the two-factor structure. The scale has excellent reliability. Further studies are needed to replicate these results, by using confirmatory factor analysis and validity testing.