Abstract
The 14-item Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) is one of the most frequently internationally adapted psychometric instruments developed to assess generalized problematic Internet use. Multiple adaptations of this instrument have led to versions in different languages (e.g., Arabic and French), and different numbers of items (e.g., from 5 to 16 items instead of the original 14). However, to date, the CIUS has never been simultaneously compared and validated in several languages and different versions. Consequently, the present study tested the psychometric properties of four CIUS versions (i.e., CIUS-14, CIUS-9, CIUS-7, and CIUS-5) across eight languages (i.e., German, French, English, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Hungarian) to (a) examine their psychometric properties, and (b) test their measurement invariance. These analyses also identified the optimal versions of the CIUS. The data were collected via online surveys administered to 4,226 voluntary participants from 15 countries, aged at least 18 years, and recruited from academic environments. All brief versions of the CIUS in all eight languages were validated. Dimensional, configural, and metric invariance were established across all languages for the CIUS-5, CIUS-7, and CIUS-9, but the CIUS-5 and CIUS-7 were slightly more suitable because their model fitted the ordinal estimate better, while for cross-comparisons, the CIUS-9 was slightly better. The brief versions of the CIUS are therefore reliable and structurally stable instruments that can be used for cross-cultural research across adult populations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Pages (from-to) | 451-464 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISSN | 2152-2715 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.07.2019 |
Funding
First, O.L-F. acknowledges the support of the European Commission and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions (Funding scheme: MC-IEF—Intra-European Fellowships), and Nottingham Trent University (Funding scheme: QR Funding and Staff Development for a competitive Kickstarter research project). Second, the support of Gert-Jan Meerkerk for his permission adapting the CIUS and his suggestions, and to Bettina Besser and Gallus Bischof for sharing the German shortened CIUS (i.e., CIUS-5, CIUS-7). Third, to Kim Hoffman by the ‘‘International Center for Advanced Research and Applied Science’’ (INCAAS) for supporting data collection at ‘‘Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya’’ (Peru), supported by Carmen Margarita Ilizarbe Pizarro. Finally, O.K. acknowledges the support of the New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities. The present study was supported, above all, by the European Commission (‘‘Tech Use Disorders’’; FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF-627999) through a Marie Curie postdoctoral grant awarded O.L-F. (supervisor: J.B.). Second, by the Psychology Department QR Funding at Nottingham Trent University, through a Kick-starter bid grant (2017) awarded to O.L-F. to develop studies on ‘‘Internet and mobile phone addiction: Cross-cultural epidemiological studies.’’ Third, O.K. acknowledges the support of the Hungarian part of the study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (grant No. K111938; KKP126835) and the ÚNKP-17-4 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
