Unveiling the YouTube addiction: Understanding the spectrum of digital dependency

Excessive use of YouTube is increasingly being as a source of technological addiction in both adolescent and adult population worldwide.

The aim of this study is to assess YouTube addiction among adolescents and adults and the ways to reduce its usage.

After obtaining Institutional ethical clearance and informed consent, we collected data from adolescent and adult male and female using a 22-item YouTube addiction scale (YAS) questionnaire. Face-to-face interview was conducted by the principal investigator. The principal component analysis (PCA) of the YAS questionnaire was performed. Manual content analysis was conducted for the qualitative data.

We enrolled 54 (50.9%) male and 52 (49.1%) female participants. The majority of them use YouTube and Instagram. Severely addicted were 38.7%, who spent all seven days watching YouTube videos. A principal component analysis revealed a four-component YAS structure based on an eigenvalue cutoff (>1), Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was more than 0.5, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was <0.001. We grouped 22 items into four dimensions: Impaired control, decrease alternate pleasure, intense desire, and measures taken to reduce usage.

Behaviour modification needed to promote healthier YouTube usage habits.